It is hard enough to love one’s friends and even harder to love others as we love ourselves. But how can we love our enemies? In both the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43) and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:27), Jesus plainly says, “love your enemies.”
Why
do we have enemies? Are enemies people we harbor enmity
against? Probably not in most cases. Why would Jesus’ first followers have had
an “enemies list” so that he would have felt the need to urge them to love those
on that list?
The
answer is clear: our “enemies” are not primarily those we have enmity toward;
rather, they are those who have enmity toward us for whatever reason. Note Jesus’
full statement: “pray for those who persecute you.” Those early followers of
Jesus were persecuted, but they certainly were not persecutors.
Consider
some notable examples of people who loved their enemies.
First, of course, is Jesus himself. As he was being executed by the
extremely painful means of crucifixion, Jesus uttered this prayer: “Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
Anabaptists
(with whom I have long identified) have great respect for Dirk Willems,
the Dutch Anabaptist martyr in 1569. He escaped from prison and
was chased by a guard who fell through thin ice during the chase. But Willems
turned back and rescued his pursuer—and then was recaptured, tortured, and
killed.
I
was certainly not a supporter of Charlie Kirk, although I grieved that he was
killed. But I remain impressed by what Erika Kirk, Charlie’s wife, said
at his memorial service. She forgave the shooter. Unlike the President, she
expressed love and forgiveness toward him rather than hatred.
These
are widely known examples of people who showed love for their enemies. Most of
us, though, will likely never be in such dramatic situations. What does it mean
for us to love our enemies?
“Love
is more an attitude and action than a feeling.” That
is the title of #25 in my book Thirty True Things Everyone Needs to Know Now
(2018). In that chapter, I cite John Hick’s explanation regarding the type of
love Jesus meant when he commanded us to love our enemies.
The
British philosopher writes that love is “to value a person in such ways as
actively to seek his or her deepest welfare and fulfillment” (Philosophy of
Religion, 1963). Or, as we might say today, love actively seeks the
flourishing of all people, including our enemies.
In
my above-mentioned book, I also cite how MLK importantly distinguished between
liking and loving. King noted in Strength to Love that Jesus did not
say, “Like your enemies,” admitting that it is “almost impossible to like some
people.” But Jesus’ command was for us to love people whom we don’t like.
So,
love of enemies is not sentimental affection, but deliberate goodwill and moral
commitment. That is the attitude Jesus calls us to have for those who say hurtful
things to/about us or do harmful things to us.
Loving
in that way certainly doesn’t mean condoning injurious things that are said or
done, to us or to others. We can’t be neutral concerning right and wrong, good
and evil. Often, we must “hate” what people do, but love them for who they are,
persons created in the image of God.
We
could make a long list of people who do things we strongly disapprove of. Many
of us have deep dislike for the things the POTUS and his henchmen such as
Steven Miller and Russell Vought say and do, and we have the right (and
responsibility?) to speak out against them.
But
if we are serious about following Jesus’ command that we love our “enemies,” whether
they are government officials we dislike, cantankerous neighbors, or whoever, we
still must seek their “deepest welfare” and their flourishing. That is both for
the well-being of others as well as for ourselves.
Remember, "hate is more harmful to the vessel in which it is stored than to the people on which it is poured."
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