Does God Prefer Kind Atheists Over Hateful Christians???

This is an example of something that sounds good to many people. After all, who likes hateful people? Not even Mr. Rogers. So surely God doesn't. 

Problems come however, in the details. Define "hateful Christian." Literally, it would mean "a person who believes in and follows Christ who is also full of hate." Herein lies the first problem. A person who believes in and follows Christ cannot be full of hate. Either they are not truly a Christ-follower or they are not full of hate. But he/she cannot be both. 

It would be interesting to know who this church has in mind as "hateful Christians." Of course, Pastor Tate, the pastor of the UMC congregation who posted this, probably doesn't mean this literally. He is probably referring to some particular Christians with whom he disagrees and therefore, are "hateful" in his view.

The pastor is quoted as saying that Jesus taught us in the parable of the Good Samaritan that God prefers the kind unbelieving Samaritan over the unkind God-fearer. However, Pastor Tate is missing some of the rest of the story. The parable Jesus teaches is an answer to a question from a religious expert. His question was: "Who is my neighbor?" not "Whom does God prefer." Jesus is clarifying what authentic love for God looks like. His parabolic answer is to the man's question about neighborly love. (By the way, Luke, the writer also tells us that the religious expert was wanting "to justify himself" (Lu. 10:29) He was, in effect, looking for an escape clause.) Jesus could discern the man's "selective kindness" was for Jews only and is telling the man that an authentic God-follower is not prejudiced or selective in his compassion.

Further, Jesus is answering this question following the expert's first question: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" The expert is asking, in other words, "In the end, who gets to be with God?" Jesus answers with a question, "How do you interpret the law?" The man says, "‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus tells him he's answered correctly: "Do this and you will live" (Lu 10:28).

This presents the major problem with Pastor Tate's summary because the atheist cannot agree with Jesus' first premise, which is essentially, 'Eternal life belongs to those who love the Lord THEIR God with all their heart.' So for the modern atheist, question #2, "Who is my neighbor?", doesn't have relevance in this particular case since by definition an atheist will not or does not love God. 

For the record, Jesus prefers people who believe in Him. John 3:16 tells us so and if Pastor Tate reads further in Luke he will find these words of Jesus: “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. ⁹ But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God." (Luke 12:8,9). Clearly, Jesus has a preference for people who believe in Him.

Yes, there are hateful people who claim Christianity. And Jesus has some harsh words for hypocrites who claim Christ but are hateful. (Hypocrisy IS the main point of Jesus' parable here.) But if a person is truly a Christian it is impossible for him to be full of hate. Yes, he falls prey to hateful attitudes at times because he is a forgiven sinner, as I am, who is in process of becoming Christ-like, yet presently, far from perfect. But whom will Christ prefer to spend eternity with? Those who love God, not those who hate Him or ignore Him. One cannot believe in Jesus and worship self at the same time.