If you have not noticed yet, election season is upon us once again. Is it just me, or does it seems like it didn’t actually ever stop? Social media, cable news, even professional sports - It looks like everything is political, all the time. And it seems the candor of the rhetoric has gotten more and more, well, angry.
It feels like violence is becoming a normal way to respond to ideas or political positions that are different. I have seen far too many political rallies turn into scenes of mass violence. This is happening far too often.
So, what is the Christian response to it all? How are we supposed to live in a society that is increasingly divided? How are we supposed to participate, when the values that we hold and live out are increasingly marginalized? The answer can be found in verses 43-47 of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus says,
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
Love is how we move forward. We love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That is the Christian response.
That doesn’t mean that we passively go along with the culture, with a “no worries, it’s all good attitude.” We still stand up and proclaim the good news of new life in Jesus Christ. We still stand ready to give the reason and explanation for why we believe and live as we do. But we always do so out of love.
It’s ok to argue with someone you love, but only if you can continue to respect and lift up the dignity of that person. It is not Christian to then turn and put someone on blast on social media. It’s not ok to try and enlist a gang of friends to harass someone. And it is never ok to resort to name-calling or threats of violence. There is no love in that.
Jesus’ call to love is not easy. And for some of us, perhaps many of us, it means that we might need to bite our tongues when we feel ourselves starting to move from rational and loving to irrational and our of control. And, yes, there is a way to speak passionately, even in righteous anger, without losing control. But, if we are honest, that is a type of self-mastery that is not often seen in our modern discourse.
There is something essential that Jesus says in verse 44 that we can not miss. He says, “Pray for those who persecute you.”
What if we actually did this? What if we really, sincerely, on our knees, prayed for the salvation of politicians, activists, misguided friends on the internet, or anyone else who we’d be tempted to see on “the other side?”
When I read the words of Christ here, I have to admit, that I have heard them many times before, and I know them, but sadly, I have not let them thoroughly saturate me. Too often, my heart has been hardened against people who Jesus loves. Today, I want to let the words of Christ permeate me completely. Lord, help me to love those people you love. Even the ones who are hard to love. You loved me when I was your enemy, trapped in sin. Help me to love like that.