This is Part 3 of a three-part series on the myths and misconceptions of the nature and teachings of Jesus Christ. Part 1 can be found here, and Part 2 can be found here.
“Bless your enemies.”
This is one of the most famous and often quoted sayings of Jesus Christ, cited by tone-policing, pacifist Christians who are moved to discomfort at the sight or sound of someone speaking boldly for the truth.
These sensitive sisters will show up everywhere from internet debates to the family dinner table to throw a wet towel over a passionate argument, to guilt the outspoken into being timid, quiet and weak — or “Christ-like.”
I call these curmudgeonly Karens “K-Love Christians” because, like the radio station, they can only be positive and encouraging — and anyone with discernment avoids them.
The more scripturally savvy among you may have already noticed that “bless your enemies” isn’t actually found anywhere in the Bible. What Jesus really said (in Matthew 5:44) was, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
“Love your enemies, bless your enemies. Is there even a difference? What are you talking about?”
There’s quite a big difference, actually. And understanding this difference is vital to understanding what Jesus was commanding us to do, which in turn affects the conduct of our entire lives.
Defining Biblical Love
As I touched on in Part 2 last week, biblical love is not even remotely close to our Disney Channel, feel-good, butterflies-in-the-stomach modern concept of “love.”
Ask the average Westerner what it means to love someone, and he’ll likely offer a list of platitudes and idioms, few of which could probably be found in Scripture. I Googled “how to show love,” and here are some of the results I was given:
Don’t judge
Ask how they want to be loved
Accept them for who they are
Apologize
Respect their opinions
Compromise
To compare and contrast, here is how God loves us, His people:
He judges everyone who has ever lived.
He commands we worship Him the way He wants to be worshiped.
He demands we change who we are.
He never apologizes to us.
He will never submit His wisdom to ours.
He will never compromise with us.
Now, obviously we aren’t God, and we have no right to, for example, withhold apology from those we have wronged — but God has never wronged anyone.
My point is that if God is love, and God also seems to defy many of the behaviors we identify with love, perhaps we need to redefine what love is before we can quote Jesus saying “Love your enemies.”
St. Paul famously provides a long list of adjectives for love in 1 Corinthians 7:
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (New Living Translation).
Let’s take a closer look at the words Paul chooses:
Patient and kind — Patience is long-suffering, persevering. And kindness, as we discussed last week, is not niceness, but rather boldness.
Jealous, boastful or proud — The contrast here is with humility. Humility is not timidity or embarrassment, so don’t conflate them.
Rude — This seems pretty straightforward, but it requires a little Greek study to get to the real, nuanced meaning.
The word translated as “rude” is aschemon. This Greek word has two parts: a, meaning “without,” and schema, meaning “form.” The same word is used later in 1 Corinthians to describe a man who acts in a sexually dishonorable way. So “rude” more accurately describes dishonorable behavior, behavior that violates God’s form, or schema.
Does not demand its own way — We shouldn’t demand our own way. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t demand God’s way.
Not irritable, keeps no record of wrongs — We aren’t to be easily provoked. Keeping no record of wrongs means not holding a grudge, showing one another new mercy every day.
Does not delight in injustice (evil), rejoices with the truth — As I wrote about last week, we don’t tolerate evil, and we certainly don’t celebrate it. We celebrate God’s truth.
Never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and enduring — These refer to the Christian life and the courage we must carry through it.
This list shows what biblical love looks like, and it helps us get a better grip on Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies.”
Who Are Your Enemies?
God’s people had many enemies when Christ said these words, and they still do today. Those who are opposed to Christianity ideologically, sometimes even violently, are not small in number.
Fortunately for us in the West, these enemies seem to be — at least for now — ideological.
However, when a nation is ruled by ideology, when policy is formed by ideology, when lives are governed by ideology, ideology itself cannot be dismissed as a merely theoretical debate.
The future of our nation is under threat as children are murdered en masse in the womb. It is viewed as extreme to wish to see an end to this, and many Christians speak of compromise and middle ground with the same mouth with which they profess Christ.
The children who do manage to survive the womb are then placed in government indoctrination camps, euphemized as “public schools,” in order to make sure they don’t make the same mistake their parents did, and their bloodline ends with them.
It’s truly a dark, pernicious evil that would target children and put them in the crossfire of the culture war.
Those who promote this evil are the enemies of God and His people — and not only them, but those who tolerate and permit evil. There are no neutral nations in this cosmic war.
Love Your Enemies
What then should we do? How should we love our enemies?
Christians don’t fight the culture war the way our enemy does. We don’t seek eye-for-an-eye vengeance. We don’t lash out in anger or bitterness. We don’t burn down abortion clinics as they burn down police stations, and we don’t take to the streets to instill terror.
But what we definitely don’t do is stand on the sidelines.
The spirit of pacifism that has overtaken so many is of Satan himself. Dropping behind our frontlines to convince Christians that this war is not one that we’re allowed to wage is exactly what our enemy has been doing and continues to do.
We can and should join the fight; we simply need to understand God’s rules of engagement first.
With one hand we hold a sword to defend the defenseless, strike at lies, and tear down the strongholds of the enemy. With it we boldly march into enemy territory, knowing that light will always overcome darkness. We speak truth confidently, kindly, ferociously.
Our other hand remains outstretched in Christian charity. We pray for our enemies — not that they would succeed in their evil endeavors, but for their repentance, salvation and personal good.
This is what makes the Christian ethos so radically different. We go to war against an enemy toward whom we extend genuine love.
This is the love Jesus spoke of when he said, “Love your enemies.”
The Ends Don’t Justify Your Means
Throughout this three-part series on the liberal myths and misperceptions of Jesus, I have sought to instill courage and a little backbone into well-intentioned but soft-handed believers.
I want to urge you to speak up and speak out. I want to convince you that your passivity and tolerance are damnable sins.
However, I don’t want to plant seeds of bitterness.
Let me use Christ as an analogy: Jesus is both the lamb that was slain and the lion of Judah.
The lion is powerful, confident and violent when necessary. The lamb is meek, humble and gentle. Christ was both, and to be like Christ we need to learn to be both.
Every one of us tends to lean toward the lion or the lamb. That’s OK. God made each of us with unique personalities and gifts. However, that doesn’t give you permission to stay in your lane.
If you typically find yourself a soft-spoken lamb, this series probably hasn’t been easy for you. Find your voice. Defend the truth.
If you typically find yourself saying too much, getting into trouble and picking fights, then you need to humble yourself. Look to St. Peter, who drew blood to defend the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. Was he encouraged or rebuked for this?
We are to defend the truth, yes, but that very truth requires us to act with dignity. The minute we depart from dignity, we lose sight of the truth we claim to defend.
Take some time and ask the Lord where in your life you have been too much of a lion, and repent. Ask where you’ve been too much of a lamb, and repent.
Understanding this duality, holding a sword in one hand and extending charity with the other, let us persevere through this life, looking forward to the day when King Jesus will return for His people.
The day when we will truly know, without a doubt or debate, the real Jesus Christ.
