Love Your Enemy

Last night I was leading a Bible study in the fourth of a six-week series on the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke). It’s a lovely group of warm friendly people who are dedicated church-going followers of Jesus. Each time the group gathers, there is first a half hour of chit-chat and hors d’oeuvres, followed by a 30-minute lecture and discussion. 

As I was over at the lectern preparing my notes, setting out my water, etc., I overheard a group of three women talking about an event in the middle east they had seen on CNN that afternoon. One of the women exclaimed, “Those Muslims are going to be the end of us all. They just want to burn the world down.”

I felt spontaneously inspired to start my talk differently than I had planned. I said something to the effect of: “Let’s talk about a few of the messages Jesus gave that really distinguished what his ministry was all about. He said that it is easy for us to love those who love us, but we must love our enemies.” I wasn’t going to call the woman out, and she is a very loving and sweet woman actually, but I think it’s easy for all of us to have blind spots—to not realize quite what we are saying or doing at times. 

If we are choosing to hate an entire group of people in another part of the world, then we are, by definition, not loving them. If following Jesus Christ’s teachings defines one as being a Christ-ian, than hating your enemy is not being Christian. In the Gospels, when Jesus is asked what the two highest commandments are, he says to love God and to love one another. When you really think about it, if we are truly loving one another, then is there even such a thing as “an enemy?” 

In addition, Jesus teaches “Do not judge others” (Matthew 7:1). Regardless of who holds the correct ideology, to look at another group of people and view them as wrong, or less than us, then we are judging them, and again, not being Christian. In his case, the group that the woman casually lumped together happens to be around 2.3 billion people—roughly 25% of the world’s population. 

I guess it really warrants some thinking about what actually makes someone Christian. Is it simply if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Or is it truly living by the standards of love and morality that Jesus laid out in his teachings? It would be no better than what this woman did if we (if I) were to judge her for her comments. Rather, we give each other grace and we try to learn and grow. 

To delve even deeper, get your own copy of “What Did Jesus Say About Hell?”