I'm constantly struck by how Jesus' imperative to "love your enemies" is a message that hasn't quite sank in for we Christians in America. It is, after all, a rather inconvenient truth that the Gospel calls for as much. In a time and place where "standing up for Jesus" means being confrontational (at least) and violent (at most), the humility of the Gospel seems a far cry from the passions of most of us Christians.
Instead, we have bumper stickers that read, "Love your enemies ... it pisses them off" or "Love your enemies ... nothing annoys them so much". Sure, they're funny. But they actually diminish what Jesus said on the subject. Those bumper stickers aim for a love of enemy whose goal is something quite negative. Because Jesus went immediately from "love your enemies" to "do good", "bless" and "pray for" them (Luke 6.27-28). Yeah, it'll astonish your enemies, but that's not the point. And we may very well "piss off" or "annoy" them, but that's not the point, either. Certainly scripture teaches that doing good to enemies "will heap burning coals on their heads" (Romans 12.20). But we don't love with such a response being either our aim or desire.
Even worse is another bumper sticker I've seen. "Love your enemies ... but keep your gun oiled." Whatever love means, I don't think it means what that bumper sticker thinks it means. When it comes to loving enemies, doing no harm is about the best place to start. Jesus' love works for right-relationships, wholeness, harmony, unity. That's the point of the work of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5.14-20). Love is, after all, "kind and not self-seeking" when it comes to our enemies (1 Corinthians 13).
Maybe this is why Jesus connected the love of our enemies with prayer. Maybe it has to start there. "Pray for those who abuse you" (Luke 6.28). God's love stirs us to open up in prayer, where we learn to give up our violence and grievances, and expand ourselves in humility and kindness toward every one. Including our enemies. Anger, vengeance and violence are supposed to become compassion, mercy and nonviolence. That's how we have our passions taught and tamed.
And that's one of the points of Lent. Embracing God's new love and new life, and giving up our old selves.
There's a bumper sticker I've never seen but would love to: "Love your enemies ... it might get you killed". It has all the truth of biblical realism to it. Why? Because that's actually what Jesus had to say. Jesus never promised that if we love our enemies, it'll go smooth. There's not a pleasing outcome to be had every time -- much less, all the time. This is why Paul admonished: "As much as it's possible with you, live peaceably with others" (Romans 12.18). This puts all the responsibility on our shoulders, not on our enemies'. "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps ... When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten" (1 Peter 2.21, 23).
We just have such a hard time with this. We Christians, for whatever reason, think the world has simply given over to being kind to us. And if it hasn't, then all the gloves are off.
There's a picture making its rounds today on Facebook.
I don't doubt but that Ms. Griffin said those things. I'm not surprised. The world is filled with all sorts of idolatries. She wouldn't be the first to have one. She also isn't the only one to have them -- I know a few Christians who come really close to being idolatrous. (But that's for another day, too.)
Christians in America (but especially American Christians -- there's a difference, trust me) want to lash out. But that's not how we're taught to respond. Sure, it's good bumper sticker theology. But it's lousy discipleship. There's no such thing as covert viciousness or violence in following Jesus. (I'm not sure it's all that covert here, but I'll let that go for now.) Jesus loved his enemies with compassion, forgiveness, truth, and mercy. What about loving Ms. Griffin that way? What about saying, "Father, forgive her"? (See Luke 23.34.) That, it seems to me, is exactly what Jesus would be doing today.
"Let's see what Christians can do", the picture calls. Okay, let's see what we can do. Perhaps we can start by loving our enemies. It is Lent, after all. So let's put our lives where our ashes went yesterday. Let's take up our cross and follow Jesus. Because, to quote Bonhoeffer:
Instead, we have bumper stickers that read, "Love your enemies ... it pisses them off" or "Love your enemies ... nothing annoys them so much". Sure, they're funny. But they actually diminish what Jesus said on the subject. Those bumper stickers aim for a love of enemy whose goal is something quite negative. Because Jesus went immediately from "love your enemies" to "do good", "bless" and "pray for" them (Luke 6.27-28). Yeah, it'll astonish your enemies, but that's not the point. And we may very well "piss off" or "annoy" them, but that's not the point, either. Certainly scripture teaches that doing good to enemies "will heap burning coals on their heads" (Romans 12.20). But we don't love with such a response being either our aim or desire.
Even worse is another bumper sticker I've seen. "Love your enemies ... but keep your gun oiled." Whatever love means, I don't think it means what that bumper sticker thinks it means. When it comes to loving enemies, doing no harm is about the best place to start. Jesus' love works for right-relationships, wholeness, harmony, unity. That's the point of the work of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5.14-20). Love is, after all, "kind and not self-seeking" when it comes to our enemies (1 Corinthians 13).
Maybe this is why Jesus connected the love of our enemies with prayer. Maybe it has to start there. "Pray for those who abuse you" (Luke 6.28). God's love stirs us to open up in prayer, where we learn to give up our violence and grievances, and expand ourselves in humility and kindness toward every one. Including our enemies. Anger, vengeance and violence are supposed to become compassion, mercy and nonviolence. That's how we have our passions taught and tamed.
And that's one of the points of Lent. Embracing God's new love and new life, and giving up our old selves.
There's a bumper sticker I've never seen but would love to: "Love your enemies ... it might get you killed". It has all the truth of biblical realism to it. Why? Because that's actually what Jesus had to say. Jesus never promised that if we love our enemies, it'll go smooth. There's not a pleasing outcome to be had every time -- much less, all the time. This is why Paul admonished: "As much as it's possible with you, live peaceably with others" (Romans 12.18). This puts all the responsibility on our shoulders, not on our enemies'. "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps ... When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten" (1 Peter 2.21, 23).
We just have such a hard time with this. We Christians, for whatever reason, think the world has simply given over to being kind to us. And if it hasn't, then all the gloves are off.
There's a picture making its rounds today on Facebook.
Christians in America (but especially American Christians -- there's a difference, trust me) want to lash out. But that's not how we're taught to respond. Sure, it's good bumper sticker theology. But it's lousy discipleship. There's no such thing as covert viciousness or violence in following Jesus. (I'm not sure it's all that covert here, but I'll let that go for now.) Jesus loved his enemies with compassion, forgiveness, truth, and mercy. What about loving Ms. Griffin that way? What about saying, "Father, forgive her"? (See Luke 23.34.) That, it seems to me, is exactly what Jesus would be doing today.
"Let's see what Christians can do", the picture calls. Okay, let's see what we can do. Perhaps we can start by loving our enemies. It is Lent, after all. So let's put our lives where our ashes went yesterday. Let's take up our cross and follow Jesus. Because, to quote Bonhoeffer:
The cross is not random suffering, but necessary suffering. The cross is not suffering that stems from natural existence; it is the suffering that comes from being Christian ... A Christianity that no longer took discipleship seriously remade the gospel into only the solace of cheap grace. Moreover, it drew no line between natural and Christian existence. Such a Christianity had to understand the cross as one's daily misfortune, as the predicament and anxiety of our daily life. Here it has been forgotten that the cross also means being rejected, that the cross includes the shame of suffering. Being shunned, despised, and deserted by people, as in the psalmists unending lament, is an essential feature of the suffering of the cross, which cannot be comprehended by a Christianity that is unable to differentiate between a citizen's ordinary existence and a Christian existence. The cross is suffering with Christ.This is a fine place to start.