Love Your Enemies

Jesus taught that we should love our enemies and pray for them.  He taught we should turn the other cheek.  Jesus practiced this to the extreme when he allowed himself killed by his enemies and prayed for their forgiveness at the very moment they were killing him on the cross.  How difficult we have found it to practice this in our own lives.

The political atmosphere today is a perfect example of how we fall short of this everyday.  I used to pay close attention to the news, and prided myself in my knowledge of current affairs.  The divisiveness of the 2016 presidential campaign turned me away from the news and social media.  I could not tolerate all of the hate and negativity I read on a daily basis coming from both sides of the political aisle.  It is as bad two years later.  

I, for one, find it easy to love those "enemies" of mine I have no personal contact with.  Whether it's politicians, celebrities, or facebook friends who I disagree with, or people who are blatant opponents of mine, if I have no personal connection to them I have no problem praying for them and turning my other cheek.  However, when it comes to people I have direct contact with on a regular basis, I have a very hard time turning the other cheek.

There is a person in my life with whom I have had a very adversarial professional relationship.  I have felt unjustly criticized by this person.  Frankly, this person has never liked me much.  Sometimes no matter what we do, there are people we encounter who we just rub the wrong way.  I have done what I could to keep this relationship amicable, but it is now at a point I can no longer continue my relationship with this person.  

I keep thinking of all the possible scenarios that might result when I tell this person I am breaking off our professional relationship.  I imagine how good it would feel to tell this person off to his face.  I imagine the nasty things he might say to me, and how I might give back a stinging retort.  There is a lot I could say to him to call him out on his hypocrisy and unjustified criticism.  But what good would that do?

It might make me feel good for a short period of time to be nasty to him for once.  But in reality, it would not serve him or me good in any way.  He will not change or apologize because of my criticism of him.  It would do nothing but lower me to his level.  How much better would I feel leaving as the better man?  I will break off our professional relationship by thanking him for all he has given me during our professional relationship.  I will shake his hand.  I will do everything on my part to live up to the call of Jesus to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek, and to pray for him.  I will wish him well.  I will be the better man.

Christianity and Culture

As I have been working through my research and writing my book and these blogs, one question has been eating at me: "How can we treat all people with love, and still be responsible citizens and advocate for the right laws?" In other words, how can we be non-judgmental and loving toward someone who has had, or is contemplating having an abortion, and still vote for anti-abortion laws? Or, how can we be loving and compassionate toward gays and lesbians, and yet still deny them the right to marry? I think these are very challenging questions that have to be answered in order for us not be internally divided. As whole and complete human beings it is important for our health and well being, not to allow us to become internally divided, thinking one thing while doing another, or doing one thing in one situation while doing a completely different thing in another situation. And the questions needs to be asked, "can I treat gays and lesbians, women who have had abortions, and others with compassion and love, while voting for anti-gay and anti-abortion laws?"

Think about it this way: If you have a friend or an acquaintance who is either gay or has had an abortion, and they have just received judgment and harsh words from someone and need consoling, and you are that person who is giving them extra love and allowing them to vent and cry, how would you respond if they ask you if you think gay marriage or abortion should be legalized, or if God is going to judge them for their behavior? How can you show them the love they need, and answer their question honestly? It will be important for you and me to sort these problems out if we are going to be the salt of the earth and the light on a hill for these people.

What I would like to do before I give my thoughts on this is to hear from you the reader. I think this is an excellent topic for a discussion among us and so I would like very much to hear what you have to say on this topic. I'm sure some of you that read this believe that you can show love and compassion while voting in an anti-gay/anti-abortion way. Some of you think this is impossible and the two cannot be reconciled; you either have to be judgmental toward gays while continuing to vote anti-gay, or show love to them and vote pro-gay. Whatever your view, please give your reasoning in argument form. Please post your comments below and look for a followup post in the coming days where I will give you my thoughts on how to respond to this difficult issue.
God bless.
-Brandon