All violations of the Law of God are "hate crimes." Sins certainly are not an act of love to God or our neighbor. Hate crimes legislation was passed by our government in 1969 to address racial crimes. In late April 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act" which expanded the definition of "hate crimes" to include crimes based on sexual orientation, gender, or disability. The Senate is considering a similar bill-the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (named after a gay man who was murdered in the course of a robbery in Wyoming). Our President has indicated that he will sign such legislation into law.
It is obvious that the purpose of this bill is to protect the practice of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. We already have laws that address race-related crimes, homophobia, etc., but now it is the thought and intent of the perpetrator which will have to be judged. The courts will be called on to judge the thoughts and the motives of man.
Whether the church will be silenced about preaching against the sin of homosexuality remains to be seen. For now, our federal legislators are saying that this new law only involves hateful physical violence but not speech. However, the foot will be in the door. Our courts have a way of reinterpreting the intentions of the law. If someone can say that they committed a crime because they heard of a specific sin (such as abortion or homosexuality) being condemned by the Bible as a grievous sin, it will not be too long before someone will be knocking on the door of the church to see that such "hate speech" is stopped. If the church does advocate any form of violence against those who commit such sins, then they should be liable for prosecution.
We are living in a fast-changing world where even some of the Bible itself is deemed "hate" literature. In the New Testament, any statement that Jesus was Christ, or that Jesus arose from the dead, or that there is no salvation outside of Jesus, was deemed hateful and worthy of death. The martyrs of the church were not imprisoned or put to death for any violent crime-but just for hate speech. Jesus was condemned by men for what He said, not for what He did.
For the unregenerate person, God's Word is hateful because it does not allow him the freedom to do as he pleases or continue in his sin. But the unbeliever does not consider it a "hate crime" to hate God. God disagrees (cf. "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me"). If God condemns certain sins, the unregenerate mind interprets this as hateful toward them. But, the church is required to declare the Word of God.
The liberal church has been afraid to address sin as sin, out of ‘love.' Psalm 81:15 says, "The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever." When sin is not exposed and repentance is not commanded, this is the ultimate "hate crime" (cf. Ezek. 33:6-8; Ps. 139:21-22). It is hateful to God not to declare His righteous will, and it is hateful to the sinner if he is never called to turn from his sin to Jesus Christ. It is often said that "God hates the sin, but loves sinner." While this sounds pleasant enough and provides a false reason to ignore church discipline, it is not what God does. He punishes the unrepentant sinner because of his sin.
When sin is condemned for what it is from the pulpit, the world sees this as hateful, but it is, in fact, the most loving thing we can do for a fallen sinner. The Gospel is a message to sinners. If the Gospel is ever preached out of a hateful motive, then that is hypocrisy. But, if we are declaring what sin is and calling on the sinner to repent and believe in Jesus for forgiveness, what greater love could we show to anyone! What greater hatred can there be to men than to hide the Truth?! It is certainly not the calling of the church to try to overturn society's sins by violence, but to preach the whole counsel of God. To declare the truth is not a hate crime, but love divine.
In the end, God will perfectly judge the heart and the intents of the heart. Man cannot. In fact the Gospel exposes the darkness of the heart of man, but, "everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed" (Jn. 3:20). If there is any hatred associated with the Christian's life, it must be to "hate every false way" (Ps. 119:12). Proverbs 8:13 tells us, "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil."
How this "hate crime" legislation will affect the church and its ministry remains to be seen. One thing is certain. Peter and John taught us, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19-20). We would do well to pray for boldness in proclaiming the Gospel, even as the disciples prayed, "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word" (4:20).
