Did I Forget To Tell You…. That We Are Supposed to Love Our Enemies?

I have confidence that church people have been told that God loves them.  And, because God loves us, we are supposed to love others.

But, to see the way people act, I am not sure at all that church people/Christian people/God’s people/Jesus followers understand that we are to love our enemies as well as our family and friends.

I have confidence that church people have been told that God loves them.  And, because God loves us, we are supposed to love others.

But, to see the way people act, I am not sure at all that church people/Christian people/God’s people/Jesus followers understand that we are to love our enemies as well as our family and friends.

For the longest time in my ministry, I didn’t make this a big deal because I thought people knew it.

First of all, the Golden Rule gets so much air time.  Just obeying the Golden Rule would mean we don’t hit, hurt, lie about, slander, cheat or personally attack others.  And Jesus says that is one of the two greatest commandments.  So, seriously, I thought people knew we were to treat others the way we would want to be treated.

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7) is the clearest, concise compilation of the ethical teaching of Jesus.  And Jesus could not be more direct:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you:  love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be children of your Father in heaven;” (Matthew 5:43-45)  InLuke 6, He says:  “But I say to you that listen:  love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…” (verse 27).  So I am not kidding when I thought people knew….until about ten years ago.

I was at a Sunday School class gathering with people I loved and whose faith I admired.  They had been Christians for a long time.  They had grown up together in the church.  They were not token Christians.  They were every-Sunday attenders, givers and the backbone of many of our church programs and activities.

The gathering was held at a time in our country when anti-Muslim sentiment was a regular part of the political conversation.  I was sitting with a man who had long and deep roots in Christian faith and the church.  Multi-generations of dedication.  He had been an anchor in the church.  Sang in the choir every Sunday.  I don’t remember what sparked the conversation (I assure you it was not me J) but he was ranting about Muslims.  On and on.  And on and on.  Condemning, berating, wishing them nothing but the worst.  I listened for a while.  And, as rage tends to do, the harsh rhetoric did not diminish, it only intensified with the vent and the audience.After what seemed like a very long time, I called him by name and said, “What do you think Jesus think about this conversation?”  

He looked me right in the eye and said, “Those Muslims are our enemies.”  And in a mocking voice, he said, “You don’t think Jesus would expect us to love ‘em, do you?”

I was speechless.  (I am very rarely speechless, but – by the grace of God—I was speechless at that moment).  

How could a man of Christian faith come to church for decades and not know that, as a matter of fact, Jesus DOES expect us to love our enemies?  That is exactly what Jesus taught His followers to do.  It is exactly what He backed up by the way He lived.  

I truly thought everyone knew that until the night of the Sunday School gathering. I respected this man’s devotion to the church and the years of devotion from his family. And it really shook me up that all those years in the church had not helped him with a core reality of Christian faith:  we are called to love our enemies.

The Bible does not pretend that there are no enemies.  The Psalms are full of prayers about enemies and all the feelings that come when we are wronged and persecuted and mistreated.  Jesus had enemies – sadly, they were the religious leaders of His day.  But the Scripture is plain:  they were enemies Jesus in every way. They relentlessly discredited him and set him up for failure and criticized and schemed against him and who eventually led to His death.  There are mean people in this world – and good people who get carried away with the corrupting forces of anger (especially righteous anger) so that they end up doing unspeakable things.  We have bullies in playgrounds and classrooms and in families and in churches and neighborhoods and communities and our nation—enemies of what is good and constructive and positive.  

And, when I look around, I guess maybe we did forget to tell people to love their enemies.  Because whenever anyone disagrees (on even small issues – like a half-time Super Bowl performance J), somehow, Christian people think that any difference to what they think frees them from the Golden Rule or the explicit teaching of Jesus.  If someone disagrees, from what I can see, they feel free to attack and insult and denounce and go after the disagreeing other with full force, no constraints and no holds barred.  

So let’s be clear:  those who follow Christ are called to love our enemies.  We are called to act in our Christ-developed moral compass.   We are called to break the negative cycle of hostile interactions.  When they curse, we bless.  When they sabatoge, we pray.  That is how Jesus expects us to treat our enemies.   As if to underline the teaching, Jesus follows His teaching by saying:  If you only love the people who love you, so what?  Surely you understand that is no big deal?  No witness when that is what you do.  Even sinners can do that.  (Loose paraphrase of Luke 6: 32-35;  Matthew 5: 46-47)  

So yes, dear longtime faithful church member, Jesus does expect us to love our enemies.  If you have not learned that in 80+ years of faithful church attendance, then we have failed you and you have some catching up to do. And after all these years of being in the church, you are getting to the age when it is more important than ever for you to understand this central teaching of Jesus.  And your church will love and support you best by lifting up this important truth andteaching you to bless those that you call enemies.  With caring and respect, we will love you best if we interrupt the angry rants that sidetrack your Christian witness and sabatoge your obedience to Christ.

 If I forgot to tell you, let’s make sure we say it now:  Jesus said we are to love our enemies.  The life of Christ shows how (not by keeping silent, not by being a doormat to abuse, not by ignoring wrong when it is done) but always speaking the truth with respect and loving concern; by not letting the bad behavior of others lead us to bad behavior; by always longing for all to experience the welcome and transformation of God’s love. 

I am fully aware of how hard it is to live this teaching.  I have had enemies—sometimes vicious enemies – in churches that would do anything they could think of to tear me down.  They will never grasp that, as I served and after I left their churches, I loved them all the more.  I could have drowned in self-pity or resentment or anger.  Following the teaching of Jesus to love our enemies is that only path that is close to Christ.  I, for one, will give up anything that keeps me on the path of the Savior. 

A.W. Tozer, a great American preacher of the last century said that the clearest sign of the sanctification of believers is found in their ability to love their enemies.  This is one crucial challenge I must not forget to share.