[Scripture: Matthew 5:43-45]
To love your enemies is one of the most challenging teachings of Jesus Christ because it is difficult to accept in our daily lives.
Think about it. We live in a society with many people who have different lifestyles, belief systems, moral values, and ethical standards. We easily encounter people who challenge us for many reasons. When you live in this kind of society, some of those people could harass you in the public square. Some of them would try to take advantage of you and your finances which would cause physical and emotional damage to you. These individuals could be your neighbors, your co-workers, colleagues, or members of your family. However, when you are in that situation, Jesus’ teaching is clear. He said you should love and pray for them “period.”
The first thing to think about is what is the meaning of love in this particular context?
The meaning of love in these passages is agape. The core value of agape love is not retaliating against others in the same way when others treat you badly. Isaiah 53:7 testifies that Jesus Christ lived his life with agape love. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Jesus did not retaliate when he was attacked by his enemies to accomplish God’s will.
When I was serving the Korean United Methodist Church as pastor to young adults, there was a man who talked bad about me behind my back. At that time, my assumption was that he was trying to alienate me from other people. A couple of people came to me and said, “What is wrong with him? He spoke ill of you a lot.” I didn’t try to make excuses, and instead I said, “Thanks for letting me know about that, but you’ll find out what the truth is later.”
I didn’t want to defend myself by talking bad about him in the same way he did to me because I wanted to protect my positive spirit from becoming negative too, and also, I had hoped that one day, people would know the truth. 1 Corinthians 13:7 talks about the power of agape love. “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Today, I will share with you two biblical and spiritual motives for why I should love people when they challenge me.
The first spiritual motive is to protect myself from the real enemy. People are not the real enemy that we have to fight against, but the real enemy is the invisible power of this world and the spiritual forces of evil who work behind the individuals. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Individuals who are just flesh and blood are the wrong targets. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians that if we fight against the wrong targets, both sides will be destroyed because that is a main strategy that Satan utilizes. Galatians 6:13-15 says, “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.”
The enemies that we fight against are the spiritual forces of evil that we cannot see who work behind the individual.
Most of the time, we cannot see the real enemy who is trying to attack us. For example, our enemy who tries to devour us is always working out of our sight where we cannot see. It is like a wolf that stays out of sight of the sheep and attacks them. I watched a documentary about the wolf among the sheep. When the sheep were in the pasture, it looked peaceful, but when the filming drone moved up, it revealed there were wolves over the hilltop. They were watching the sheep, but the sheep did not realize it because the wolves were watching them from outside of the sheep’s sight.
Likewise, if someone challenges you for a variety of reasons, you need to find out who your real enemy is and try not to take revenge on anyone who treats you badly. This will help prevent wrong targeting.
Unfortunately, some Americans believe that the enemy of a state can be the enemy of an individual. For example, when I was at a previous church, I officiated the wedding for an elderly couple in their late 70s. His best man was a veteran of the Vietnam War. Before the wedding started, he came to my office and asked about my nationality. I said, “I am Korean”; after that, he said, “I am OK with Koreans around.” If I was Vietnamese, he would punch me in the face. He suffered his entire life identifying every Asian he saw, and if he found a Vietnamese, he tried to retaliate against them. His internal war with the Vietnamese never ended.
The second motive is that your personal enemy is not always God’s enemy. For example, David was God’s anointed one. Even though God loved David, King Saul considered David his enemy to fight against, but this was a wrong motivation. David was not his enemy, but king Saul’s heart, which hated to listen to God’s word, was the real enemy.
People tend to believe that when someone bothers them, goes against their opinions, or doesn’t cooperate with them, they are enemies to fight. A Christian should be careful with that because sometimes we may have trouble with someone whom God loves and cares for. Again, your personal enemies whom you don’t like will not always be God’s enemies.
Sometimes, God can use anyone and anything to teach us and show His will for us. In Numbers 22:27-30, we can see a donkey who can speak. God employed even a donkey to reveal his will. When the donkey saw God’s angel standing to kill his master, the donkey turned off the road to avoid the angel. The master was angry and beat her with his staff, but his heart and actions that went against the will of God were enemies of God.
Sometimes God uses a pastor’s preaching or other people to tell the truth. Whoever speaks the word of God to you is not your enemy, but he who refuses to listen to the word of God is the enemy of God.
Conclusion
What about Christians who do not have an ability to do agape love? The answer is in John 21:15-19. Jesus said to Peter, “Do you agape me?” Peter answered, “Lord, you do know I will just philia you.” Again, “Peter, do you agape me?” Peter answered, “Lord, you know I can only philia you.” One more time, Jesus asked, “Peter, do you philia me?” Peter answered, “Yes, Lord I will philia you.” The conversation wasn’t done yet. Jesus said to him, “Now you cannot agape me, yet, I understand, one day, I will make you agape me.”
The real enemy that Christians should fight is the heart that hates hearing God’s Word.
2022.02.13. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
