Answer:
We may be called to “hate” and "renounce” our family.
In Luke 14:26-27, 33 Jesus says,
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. . . . Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
Just as we read in other scriptures that Jesus did come to bring peace, but the context of what He was saying in Matthew 10 was for division in families so we face a similar concept and context here. In Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Matthew 5:44, and John 13:35 we read about our command to love and honor others.
So how can we understand this statement to hate and renounce? The first step is to read John 12:24-25, “whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Piper explains the meaning here:
“We will be called upon to make choices in this world that look as if we hate our lives in the sense of caring very little for their well-being. For example, we may have to die for Christ. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). To the world, this will look like the ultimate self-hate — throwing your life away for a myth! Jesus says it is a kind of “hate,” but it’s also a way of preserving our lives for eternal life — which is a very radical form of love for our lives.
Similarly, when Jesus says we cannot be his disciples unless we “hate” our fathers, he probably means something similar. That is, we may be called on to do things that look as though we hate our fathers when, in fact, we long for them to join us in eternal life.”
As an example, for believing parents it can be very hard to watch their child leave and go live in another country for missions…and sometimes this means they will not be able to take care of their aging parents. Now imagine how this would look to a non-believing family when their child leaves them to live in another part of the world. It could look like hate to those who do not believe and love Jesus.
Jesus knows what He’s doing when he uses a strong word like “hate” in talking to his disciples; it is an extreme perspective to test them. “The radical sayings of Christ expose our self-protective reflex,” writes Piper.
As believers will we say, yes I choose You over everything and everyone else Jesus without hesitation? Will we be OK with others possibly misunderstanding our actions and wondering why we are not doing certain things for our family and putting our family first?
Though you may never have to make such painful choices, there are Christians all around the world who make such choices every day. When they trust Jesus, they must leave their old life behind. They can no longer follow the same traditions and rituals; for many to return home would be to meet death. By breaking with their family tradition they are viewed as destroyers and haters. As believers, we are called to be faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10); our faith must take precedence over all things, even what we hold most dear.
Explanation:
