Love Your Enemies

"You have heard that it has been said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven because his sun rises on the evil and good and it rains on the righteous and unrighteous." Matthew 5:43-44

I hear the radical call to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. I wonder who Jesus had in mind as he calls his followers to a perfect, mature righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). I wonder if we are misusing this text?

Is my enemy a national enemy I've never met deemed an enemy by a particular government? Perhaps. That is certainly the assumption behind those who use this text to support the call to love a national enemy. (btw...I'm certainly okay with giving Bin Laden the 'enemy' label!)

In the midst of all the buzz however, I'm compelled by Jesus' little sermon to consider a more personal application. I wonder if this statement forces me to see my enemy as a person I know, Joe Smith, who does everything he can to slander me, speak all kinds of evil against me, insult me, and work against me?

Jesus' words here are rightly considered as we hear of Bin Laden's death. I am just a little hesitant to see those who work against America as "my" personal enemies. While, as a US citizen, I am bothered when others attack us, I refuse to directly equate America's enemies as my enemies. It frustrates me when any allegiances to America (or lack of allegiances) are equated with allegiances to Christ. I consider Jesus Lord rather than America. If I understand the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, my prayers need to desire God's kingdom to come on the entire earth, even to the exclusion of America.

So, in light of Bin Laden's death, my allegiances to Christ may compel me to pray for the Iraqi moms who continue to lose their sons in war against my nation. My allegiances to Christ may help me to consider the possibility that Bin Laden was equally made in God's image. Was he even a child of God? That kind of perspective (and just the question itself) may be blasphemous to some. At the same time, I wonder if this is exactly the perspective of another perfect righteousness Matthew points us toward?

Perfection or Maturity

It seems like this time of the year always brings about an energized propensity for focused campus ministry dreaming sessions for the coming academic year. It is a good thing for our work here in Huntsville! This is the exciting part of ministry.

Reflecting on how previous dreams have actually materialized in years past, I must say that I have lacked the ability to execute what is up in this bald head of mine. The semester brings with it a busyness that seems to choke out my good summer intentions. I get caught up in the details of maintaining a ministry somewhat solo. I haven't communicated well. I haven't empowered others well. I spent way too much time perfecting things that don't need perfection. The spacing between paragraphs on our weekly announcements doesn't HAVE to be uniform throughout! The page layout doesn't need to carry with it the golden ratio of design (1.62) before it goes to print.

As I return to my dreaming session, I have realized that something has to change at a core level especially dealing with things being perfect; my attitude needs a little adjustment. I have these perfectionist tendencies that don't want things done sloppy or incompletely; they can always be done better...and so I do them better. While this might be good at times, I think it prevents me from working on matters that really...matter.

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With that said, I wonder about Jesus' admonition to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect in Matthew 5:48. How far should we take that little phrase? It would be easy for me to take that one statement completely out of its context and place it on my announcement preparation. Maybe we should do that.

I am inclined, however, to have a little bit of textual restraint. The beginning of Jesus' sermon on the mount (specifically Matt 5:17ff.) calls to mind the shallowness of following rules verses the maturity of true righteousness. You can follow the rules without changing your attitude. You can refrain from murdering someone (the rule), but your anger has already murdered them (the attitude). The shallow righteousness of the Pharisees is surpassed by the mature righteousness of those who take Jesus' words seriously.

I use 'mature' here instead of 'perfect' intentionally because 'mature' gives the connotation of growth or completeness that 'perfection' doesn't. "Be mature as your heavenly Father is mature" is a plausible translation of this passage. It also does something more for me. I can strive for maturity more readily than I can strive for perfection. Perfection seems to be allusive whereas maturity is possible. Maybe it is a mental block of mine...I don't know.

Back to my perfectionist tendencies. The mature/perfect person (as I understand) would let some tasks go in an effort to get other (more important) tasks finished. In order to guide a larger process, the manager needs to step back from the details of the assembly line. In order for Kats for Christ to pursue being mature disciples of Jesus better, I need to let go of the margins in our announcements. I probably also need to let go of other tasks as well.

This summer will be a time for us to think about the maturity that Jesus desires of his disciples. Do you need to let go of some things in order for God's purposes to be completed?

Reading the Bible with Jesus of Nazareth

I wanted to share this article written by my mentor from ACU, Mark Hamilton. It is well worth the read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Here is the link: http://www.wineskins.org/filter.asp?SID=2&fi_key=192&co_key=1614.

Watermelon

Last night after a short devotional at church, we went outside to eat watermelon. Kayla was with Tanya when everything got started. I had some watermelon in my hand and after giving Kayla a small bite, she made a b-line outside. Rarely am I able to get her motivated to do things, but I am sure she would have washed my car if she knew she was going to get watermelon. It was pretty funny to watch.

Thinking about this I find myself compelled to give people a taste of Jesus so that they will make a b-line to have more of him. I give people a taste of Jesus whenever I do something "for one of the least of these brothers of mine." (Matthew 25:40)

What do people taste when they are around you?

Big or Small?

Why do I think I can tackle big weaknesses in my life if I can't even overcome the smallest temptations? What makes me think I can do this? Perhaps it is my lofty goals or my competitive nature.

Do I not understand that the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30? The master put in charge of many things the faithful servants who doubled the talents given to them. "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"

If I prove myself faithful in my ability to say 'no' to that extra coke on a consistent basis, then I will be able to say 'no' to many of Satan's other attacks and temptations. It is a small idea, that has many repercussions.