The Hardest Thing Ever

I want to share a couple of passages of Scripture in which two of my favorite mystics, when taken in concert, issue one of the hardest challenges to mankind and it is one that most Christians (myself included) gloss over. My prayer is that you read these in their entirety and accept the challenge.

"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and it's 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."
                          - Jesus, Matt. 5, msg.

Pow. Right between the eyes. Here Jesus points out that we aren't even acting as our true selves when we don't love indiscriminately. As if that command doesn't hit hard enough, lets look at our other mystic who clarifies some.

"But now I want to lay out a far better way for you. If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate...If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head, doesn't force itself on others, isn't always 'me first,' doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others, doesn't revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back but keeps going to the end. Love never dies...When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! we'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us...But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. and the best of the three is love."
                        - Paul the Apostle, 1 Cor. 12&13, msg.

Now, if you're a Christian, I'm sure you've heard both of these passages at one time or another. My purpose in laying them side by side like this is to point out two things.

First, is the blatant command: love your enemies; to supplement that command is the clarification: this is what love is. Most people have heard this Pauline verse used in marriage ceremonies so often that we assume it is talking exclusively about romantic relationships. You might also have heard it applied to the church, as in "this is how God feels about you and the church" which is true as well. Few, however, apply this thorough definition of love to our enemies. Go back and read it with someone you can't stand in mind; it's a much tougher read.

Second, both Jesus and Paul seem to have some idea that maturity is directly connected to how we love. Jesus says that we should "grow up" and love our enemies; Paul says that when he was a baby, he acted like one, but when he grew up, he loved correctly. We should regard our love as a gauge of our maturity. One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller once wrote that "reality is like a fine wine, it just won't appeal to the immature." I think that God's reality is love and that is the finest of wines which we should strive for.

Meditate:

There are many lessons we can draw from these passages of Scripture and more still when we examine them side-by-side. These are simply two of my thoughts. What are yours?

peace,
C.M.