What's love got to do, got to do with it?

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. 

This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

Matthew 5:43-48 

  

If I were to be honest I would have to say that I find this the most challenging piece of text in all of Scripture. Why?  Because I, like all others, have a natural tendency to seek retaliation against those who have harmed me. But to be fair, let's look at what Jesus is not telling us to love. 

This passage  was told to the inner circle of those who were following him. The command is not one to allow all sorts of evil things to just happen. God demands justice and protection of the innocent in the here-and-now. 

It is not in God's character, if we know that a an innocent person is being abused to simply love the abuser in order to win them over to Christ and allow the evil to continue without challange.  

Yes, God loves us while we mock him, but we are indeed our brother's keepers. 

So if God is not saying just love everybody  and let him deal with it, who are we called to love here? Who are these enemies? 

They are the ones who would be hating Christ's followers simply because they were his followers, and the ones who would be hating future disciples as well. 

We were given the clue earlier on in the same chapter:

 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down 

or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. 

What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. 

You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! 

And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. 

My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble."

We are called to love the enemies of God because God loved us while we were enemies of him. 

We are not called to love the actions of hate or cruelty, to allow them to continue.  We are called to look at what evil is being done and to make sure we do not do it.   

We are called to not pay back evil for evil (Romans 21:12) but also to not tolerate evil, especially in the church! 

So we discipline each other out of love, not retaliate of hate. 

We love those who hate us because we proclaim Christ. 

We await the day when He is in our midst, and we no longer have any enemies.