Jesus used the Bible seriously (but not literally)

Over the years, this one verse has captured my attention more than any of Jesus’ other teachings: “love your enemies.” Such bold, challenging words that speak peace to the revenge-seeking heart. To many, this notion seems hopelessly absurd or altruistic to the modern mind. 

I’m a peacemaker by nature and so I’ve always just taken it at face value. Okay, you should love your enemies and pray for those who hurt you. But I’ve seen plenty of real-world situations where Jesus-followers have not shared this perspective. 

As a guest speaker, I preached this passage at a church, and afterward I was openly challenged by a man who imagined Jesus as a big, burly carpenter who wouldn’t take any nonsense from anyone. He took Jesus’ throwing the money changers out of the temple as a template for handling conflict, rather than the messianic act that it was. In another context, a woman shook her head and said, “Jesus does not mean I’m supposed to love THEM,” as she told us stories about the militant political group that had persecuted her family in her home country. For her, God’s love could not–should not–be extended to these people. The list of people I’ve been told are excluded from the enemies Jesus said we should love is quite long: murderers, unfaithful spouses, dishonest business partners, terrorists, liberals, conservatives, distant fathers, and abusive relatives (just to name a few).

For years, my answer to those who challenged this teaching was the same: Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it for me. (For the record, this was not a helpful response to genuine concerns about Jesus’ words.) The truth was that I didn’t really have any enemies, and it’s quite easy to tell people to love your enemies when you don’t have any.   

But this didn’t last.  As happens to most of us, I eventually came to a season where I had people who declared themselves my enemy and made sure I knew it. It became time to practice Jesus’ words. As I tried to put his words into action, I was tempted to pray for God to fix my enemies, to make them pay for the hurtful things they’ve said, for God to make them aware of the error of their ways. I wanted to pray for them to change, or for God to force them to change (which I knew God wouldn’t do).  

But Jesus’ challenge is to “bless those who curse you.” So, I began to pray blessings over my enemies. I prayed for God to be more present in their lives, to demonstrate to them the same astounding love God has shone to me. I prayed for them to know God is with them and for God to bless them with a deeper experience of Jesus’ love. Just to be clear, I didn’t pray for their schemes against me to succeed, but I did pray for them to encounter more of our loving God. Do you know what happened? My enemies repented and wrote me a 15-page apology!

Just kidding. That never happened. They didn’t change, and as far as I know, they have just as low a view of me now as they did back then. The powerful thing that happened was that I changed. My heart was softened toward them. The flow of bitterness within me was slowed. My anger was tempered. As I prayed, my heart moved from being AGAINST them to being FOR them. Nothing else changed. But it made all the difference in the world.

Jesus truly is brilliant. I expected my enemies to change, but that’s not how Jesus works. The truth is that it’s incredibly difficult to remain bitter toward the person you’re praying for. The first person who changes when you love your enemies is you. Who needs your prayers of blessing today?