The Hard Work of Loving Your Enemies

​As our society becomes increasingly divided, it is all too easy to join in the division – to get caught up in Twitter wars and Facebook battles.  But it is at a time like this that we as Christians need to take a step back and remember what our true purpose is as children of God.  Ours is the same mission given to the very first disciples of Jesus – The Great Commission to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.
 
One need not look to the far-flung corners of the world to find those in need of hearing the gospel.  We can see them on our televisions rioting in the streets.  We can watch their TikTok videos where they have emotional breakdowns because the death of a Supreme Court justice threatens their ability to end the life of possible future unborn child.  There is darkness growing all around us.  Never has this nation founded on Christianity been in such dire need of those willing to spread the gospel message.
 
We could instead choose to go down the path of judgment.  We could point out their sinfulness.  Their abject stupidity.  The irreparable damage they are doing to themselves and this country.  They will not listen.
 
They expect us to behave like them.  They expect us to hate them as much as they hate us.  The genius of God’s plan of salvation was that it defied the fallen human nature.  It gave humans something they did not deserve.  This is the doctrine of grace – it is a gift freely given with no expectation of receiving anything in return.
 
Jesus described this concept in Matthew 5:44 – “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
 
Logical arguments can be rebutted.  Facts can be ignored.  Grace speaks loudly and profoundly.  When you show love to your enemy, it throws his entire worldview into question.  He loses any pretext for his hatred and cruelty and is forced to either reassess his position or actively lie to himself about your intentions and thereby enter a downward spiral of self-loathing, facing the gnawing truth that he is the one behaving unjustly.
 
Make no mistake, this is not a path of all rainbows and lollipops.  Evil is real and some people are so consumed by it that they will double-down on their hatred when confronted by grace.  But God is not using us with the expectation of saving everyone.  Every single soul saved is a victory unto itself.  If 100 people you encounter break your olive branch over their knee and only one enters into a conversation that leads to their salvation, then you have succeeded.  I know this sounds like a recipe for frustration in a world where our metrics for success set the bar so much higher.  We need to instead think of the analogy Jesus used of the shepherd seeking the single lost sheep.  Or another way to think of it is like someone who is panning for gold.  The dreariness of casting all the countless plain rocks aside is worth all the work of finding that single nugget of gold.
 
We are not here to just countdown the days to the Rapture of the Church.  We are not here to be God’s prosecutors on earth, pointing out everyone’s sins.  We are here to lead people to Christ.  And if we truly are living in the Last Days (as seems highly likely) then our mission is even more critical.  Remember, Jesus loved his enemies, even as they were mocking him as he was dying on the cross they nailed him to.  We must find it in ourselves to love the mockers and persecutors of our day, because among them might very well be children of God that are waiting to be saved.  This is the hard work that will earn us the praise “well done my good and faithful servant”.