OUR COUNTRY

As hard as it is when you get cut off in traffic, Jesus would tell you to take a deep breath, let it out slowly and forgive/forget and love the other driver. Or, maybe you see protesters on the news and wish they would all get pepper sprayed.

The whole idea of loving your enemies is a serious theme in Christianity that is argued over and pondered by philosophers.

Arthur C. Brooks, for example, is an influential conservative (former head of the American Enterprise Institute), a serious Christian, and a policy analyst with a PhD who has studied applied microeconomics and mathematical modeling). He has written a book: “Love Your Enemies” in which he notes with sadness that in the USA today, we have a “culture of contempt.”

Brooks states: “My point is simple: Love and warm-heartedness might not change every heart and mind, but they are always worth trying, and they will always make you better off.”

Brooks cites the interesting friendship of two professors at Princeton, the white conservative Robert George and the black socialist Cornel West. Their mutual respect and genuine affection, despite their disagreement on practically everything, embodies, to Brooks, the answer to the culture of contempt. Professor George says of professor West: “When I call Brother Cornel ‘Brother Cornel,’ I mean he’s my brother.”

As with these two professors, Brooks suggests, America’s path forward lies in its learning to transcend self-destructive, obsessive politics in order to think clearly and to use the intelligent competition of ideas to advance the country.

How different might this cultural moment—and our country—look if the people of God obeyed Christ’s command to love their enemies?

OUR SELF

We are called by Jesus to practice love.

Inner Enemies: Jesus’ admonition applies also to my inner enemies: the thoughts, desires, urges, sensations, motivations that I’d rather not have to deal with.

In his sermon Jesus noted unmanaged anger is our enemy (serious like murder), and unbridled lust is our enemy (same as adultery). What does it mean to love these enemies?

Agape’s root meaning is “deep attention.” It is hard to make needed changes in our lives if we don’t know what is going on inside of us.

And it’s hard to see clearly what’s going on inside of us if we look with eyes of judgment, evaluations, opinions and revulsions. We need to learn to examine our problematic inner experiences with agape compassion—then we can begin to understand and liberate ourselves from their negative control over our behavior.

OUR CHURCH

The kind of love Jesus was talking about in his Sermon on the Mount was agape—unconditional love. When the 1st letter of John said, “God is Love,” the biblical Greek word used for love was agape. Love without limits. Love no matter what.

The church is the fitness center where we exercise agape love, building up spiritual muscle to practice it—even with our enemies.

I’m convinced when Jesus exhorted his listeners to “love your enemies,” he intended the word “enemies” to refer to people.

What a challenge to love the people I do like—those who like me and tend to agree with me, and then going next level to try to love the people I don’t like—those who don’t seem to like me very much and tend to not agree with me.

Relationships: As your pastor, may I make one foundational request? Think of that person in church who bothers you the most—the one whose Facebook posts drive you crazy, the one you try to avoid before and after services, the one who is least like you and least compatible with you. Now, with that person in mind, commit to loving them!

That is what your church needs from you. This is how our church can most effectively demonstrate the Christian Gospel that forms and shapes us as followers of Christ!

Jesus commands us to love our enemies and generously supplies us with grace and strength to do it. He has not left us without a Helper who provides God’s other-worldly grace and strength!

Let’s celebrate this wondrous thing called AGAPE LOVE!

See you at 11 a.m. for our Sabbath service!

Duff