Being Likeable

“Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets” (Lk 6:26)



Two immortal passages listed above – one from the Holy Word of God, one from the genius of Michael Scott. I find Michael’s perspective easier to receive than Scripture’s. I too “like being liked.”

Jesus told us that the highest calling was to love God and love others (Mt 27:37-40). In fact, we are to love others to such an extent that it looks like we are actually laying down our lives for their sake (1Jn 3:16). This is our job; it is our most important task.

As always, Jesus shows personally demonstrates for us how this works. The Gospels are full of stories of Him reaching out to the marginalized, comforting the hurting, and blessing and healing those who were in need. And yet, although He loved the people of the world to such an extent that He even went to the cross for them, nonetheless, the ones that He loved did not always return the sentiment. Jesus constantly provoked anger, resentment, and eventually, violence.

Why? An easy answer: Jesus said that the world “hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” (Jn 7:7)

Fair enough! That will definitely get people ticked. No one likes being told that they are out of line. For Jesus, part of His role was to teach on God’s Word, and to call people away from sin. To call people away from sin, you have to call them out on their sin.

And most people don’t like it when that happens.

And as we follow after Jesus, the fact of the matter is that there will be times when people don’t like us either (Jn 15:18-25). If we follow after Jesus, we’ll follow after Him in everything, even the hard stuff.

Some have taken this as license to throw out principles of basic decency towards our fellow human beings. They rail against sin, shouting from pulpits and airwaves, condemning people to hell and bluntly declaring their beliefs. “Sometimes, the truth hurts,” they say. “To love someone is to tell it like it is, and that’s the most loving thing you can do.”

Yes, sometimes the truth hurts. But that doesn’t relieve us of our call to be loving, gentle, and kind (Gal 5:22-23). It doesn’t allow us to dismiss the biblical mandate to always be respectful (1Pe 3:15). The fact that people will sometimes hate us doesn’t give us carte blanche to stop loving them – it means that we must we ensure that, even if they don’t like what we’re saying, that we ourselves are not giving them any other reason to dismiss what we are saying (1Pe 2:12).

We must always ensure that, although people may reject our message, that when they do so, it is not because they don’t like the messenger.

We can also be encouraged that, for those times when we are not popular with those around us, that we are walking in Christ’s footsteps as we do so. We love people the best we can, and if they still don’t like us, we take that hit as followers of Christ, knowing that they didn’t like Him, either. And, as always, we trust that He will work it all out, as only He can. The pressure’s off.