Jesus calls us to love ISIS
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” – Matthew 5:44-45 (NRSV)
There’s a group from the Center that is reading Miroslav Volf’s book, Allah: A Christian Response, and it has been emphasized throughout the book that one part of Christianity that sets it apart is the call to love one’s enemy. This doesn’t seem too surprising, having grown up in the church my whole life. I’ve heard that ever since my Sunday school days, probably so often that it fails to truly sink in anymore. I tried to love that bully in elementary school; I did my best, at least.
This passage from Matthew, and the call to love our enemies, has been something I’ve been struggling with lately. I saw a movie recently where I perceived a culture that endorsed revenge instead of grace, and it thoroughly bothered me and got me thinking about how much of this is true and what this means for us as Christians. I’ve found that many people around me, and most likely myself as well, have chosen a human form of justice and retribution instead of love.
Now, I’m not one for taking everything in the Bible literally, but I think this verse is something we can do that with, and should do that with. And if we go that route, we have to do some digging and reflection within ourselves to figure out whom our own enemies are, and ways we can love them better. Okay, I can do that; I can do better to treat that unfair professor with more grace and understanding, doesn’t seem too bad. But let’s dig deeper than that. How about on a more national scale? I would probably consider ISIS an enemy of America, or even Al-Qaeda, would you agree? I think we could also agree that individuals that killed children in Newtown, CT or Batman-viewers in Aurora, CO are probably enemies in our eyes as well. These are people and groups that have caused pain and suffering to American lives, that have sustained global and national evil and destruction, and caused fear to grow because of growing threats. Seems like a fit for an enemy.
So if we take this passage in Matthew literally, and have identified those who we may call our enemies, does that mean that Jesus is telling us to love ISIS…? Surely not. And if he is, how am I to do that?
First of all, I think this is exactly what Jesus is calling us to do. He was all about that radical love, and I think we need to be as well. So how do we stand as Christians and love those who are destroying and bringing evil to God’s creation?
First, I think we need to remember that God is constantly redeeming God’s creation, though we may not believe that at first. And even better, God desires us to join God in this journey of redemption, wanting us to be a vital part of this mission of bringing new life into this broken world. In other words, God needs us to love creation in all its brokenness and proclaim its continual revival. Second, we need to recognize our own brokenness, being aware that when we point the finger of evil on others, we are also participants in destroying God’s creation. No one’s brokenness is worse than anyone else’s, and recognizing our own faults and brokenness is key to loving those who persecute us. And finally, we must consistently seek out God’s love so that our fear, judgment, and anger can be softened and transformed leading us to see through the lens of Christ and be led by the Holy Spirit. If we truly want and desire to follow this calling, we need to give the chance for the Holy Spirit – the one who is love itself – to work in us and redeem our own hardness within.
With all of this said, I have been struggling most with what this means for our actions, because I did not appreciate the resulting actions in the movie I saw. Not only does this passage call us to do something, it might also call us not to dosomething. And I think this all leads us to a fundamental question that we all have to wrestle with: If this is how Jesus is calling us to love our enemy and those who persecute us (i.e., ISIS and Newtown shooter), what kind of boundaries does this put on our behavior and how does this change our reaction to evil in response to what is happening in the world?
