Enemies

“Love your enemies.”

I believe this one teaching of Jesus Christ is the essence of Christianity.

It is a hard teaching.

It is a lot harder because of who Christians choose to follow these days.

Some of the most popular people among Christians in America are people who call for the isolation, punishment, and shaming of enemies.

So, I have been using my voice to call Christians back to the teaching of their one and only Lord and Savior. We must love our enemies or we are not in the Way of Jesus Christ. It is as simple as that.

And, once again, loving our enemies means proactive love. It is not waiting until our enemies make a civil gesture. It is not waiting until we happen to pass an enemy trying to change a tire on the side of the highway.

Proactive love is seeking out our enemies to serve them.

Who does that?

People who follow the Way of Jesus Christ.

How?

Good question. When you and I think about it for a moment, how easy is it to come up with people in our lives who model this kind of love?

It is rare.

Social media doesn’t help. It tricks us into thinking we are having real relationships with people. In fact, we are merely having words with the social media projection of a real person whose real life is not what we see online. Saying something nice on Facebook to someone who is voting for “the other guy” counts for something, but not much.

Christians need a better plan than social media.

We need a better plan for loving our enemies in real life.

How did Jesus do it?

Let’s note three things about how Jesus was proactive about loving his enemies.

First, Jesus went to where he was likely to encounter his enemies in person. The Gospels show Jesus always on the move. He goes from city to town to village to wilderness and back again. He’s in houses, on the lakeshore, in the marketplace, on the road, at the synagogue, in the temple. If you know many of the Jesus stories, you know he runs into his enemies in all of those places. It was no coincidence. Jesus got around because he wanted to meet with his enemies. How far do we go from our comfort zones? How far do we go from the people who are all just like us? Do we follow Jesus out and about so that we have a chance to meet our enemies often?

Second, Jesus always did what he could for his enemies. The Gospels have the religious authorities as the people who opposed Jesus most. They tried to give him trouble everywhere he went. Yet, he always helped them when they came to him in need. Think of the stories of Nicodemus and Jairus. But sometimes, I think about the “Feeding of the 5,000” story. The Gospel storytellers give an account that hints at over 10,000 people being present when Jesus fed them all with five loaves of bread and two fish. Do you think everyone in that crowd was a believer? How many of them were skeptics? How many of them didn’t really care that much for Jesus (but wanted to follow the crowd to see what all the fuss was about)? How many of them were actually there because they wanted to catch Jesus saying something wrong? Odds are, in a crowd that big, a lot of people were there to oppose Jesus. Yet he fed them.

Third, Jesus prayed for his enemies. And he didn’t just mumble “…and be with my enemies” at the end of his bedtime prayer. When Jesus’s enemies were mocking him after their lies led to his public execution, he prayed that God would forgive them! Jesus and his killers were making eye contact when he prayed for them. He knew who they were and he knew what they needed.

Jesus taught us to “bless those who curse” us and “pray for those who persecute” us. The blessing and the praying are not responses to the cursing and persecuting. We are to be blessing and praying before our enemies have a chance to curse and persecute. Blessing and praying are the native tongue of people who follow the Christ.

So, what blessing could you pray for your enemies today? Do you know them well enough to know what they need?

You may be tempted to project onto your enemies what you think they need. But if you practice real love for your enemies, you will seek to know them well enough to know what they desire and need. You will pray the prayers that they would pray for themselves.

When Jesus practiced “enemy love,” he: 1) Went to where he was sure to find his enemies, 2) Served his enemies in whatever way they needed (without always waiting for them to ask for it), and 3) Made blessing and praying for them a priority.

How could those who want to be Christians practice the “enemy love” of their Christ now?

Here are three ideas that follow the pattern of Jesus.

First, stop slandering people (especially online) and start getting to know them. Politicians want us to paint groups of people with broad brushstrokes. This serves politicians who want to gain power over us, but not the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. Don’t speak one thing about your enemies unless you first spend time among them. If you think of people who support Black Lives Matter as your enemies, go to some Black Lives Matter events and spend some time with them. If you think MAGA people are your enemies, go spend some time with them. You’re not going as a spy; you’re going in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. You’re going as a guest in the spirit of goodwill and peace.

Second, make a plan to serve your enemies. What if Biden voters delivered food to the folks who are organizing the local Trump campaign? What if Trump voters helped make sure Biden voters could make it safely to the polls on election day? What can you do to serve your enemies?

Third, make a list of people (groups or names) that you find it hard not to despise, fear, or hate. Commit to pray God’s blessings on them every day at the same time. Perhaps commit that you will pray for them before you look at social media. Better yet, commit to 40 days of getting to know the groups or people on your list. Try to make it personal. As you get to know them, you will begin to understand what you need to pray for them.

The final word is: Following the Way of Jesus Christ is not conditional upon American politics. Jesus did not say: “Love your enemies…but wait until after the election.” The teaching is for here and now.

What will you do?