A Friend
You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48
Before I started my current job, I worked in downtown Detroit. Thus, in the workplace you were not allowed to wear anything less than a sport coat and tie. As such, my wardrobe was filled with suits and dress shirts. That was my normal for years. Then in my current job, the dress code was business casual. I did not even know that was a ‘thing.’ In fact, there was nothing casual about even my casual clothes. I remember my wife taking me to Target just to find comfortable non-dress slacks so that I could fit in with everyone else. I mean, this was legitimately a challenge!
About a month later, a new person sat across from my cube. Unlike myself, he dressed as though he had never wore a suit in his life. Now understand that this is me telling myself my own story because we all came to the interviews wearing a suit, but this guy was the antithesis of me. Yes, I admit I was a bit snobbish back then (my wife might tell you, “He hasn’t change that much!” 😊). He talked too casual for me, and he was filled with odd jokes and a down home sense of humor that I just didn’t get. “This is a place of business! There will be no nonsense around me like this,” I thought to myself. We mixed together like oil and vinegar, and he became my ‘rival’ sort of speak. I could not get along with this young man.
Then one day, we started working together on a project, and as a bit of my polish rubbed off on him, his easy-going nature rubbed off on me probably more. I began to let my guard down a bit, and found we had a lot more in common than originally thought. Over time, we became great friends. We even hung out at his cottage out in the country for a weekend, and for those who know me, I’m a city kid at heart who wouldn’t dare be caught in the woods let alone a cabin! When I met him, I could have sworn we would have never become friends. Years later, he is incredibly dear to me, and the very thought of him brings both a smile to my face and a sense of joy in my spirit. I am humbled to call him my friend. You never know when someone you think is your enemy will turn out to be your friend.
There is incredible wisdom from Jesus Christ in learning to love your enemies. One of the greatest challenges He gives us lie in these very last verses of Matthew 5. To love those who we do not like can be both immense and intense. They may not sound or act like, believe or share views as, or see the world and even God differently than we do. This is one of the truest tests of our faith though. Jesus asks us to for lack of better term to ‘suck it up,’ and be the bigger and better person. His intent here is not to say we are the bigger or ever better person. It is to learn to love others as He loves us. Imagine how we must have looked to Jesus before we surrendered our lives to Him. A bit of a mess, right? I know I certainly was! Now Jesus is not saying to disassociate from our fellow friends in Christ. His challenge is for us to stand out as representatives of Him and be shining examples for all to see His true glory and splendor. You see much like my good friend, we only see what makes us different, and those differences do not make them lesser of a person let alone an enemy. Jesus asks us to love, pray, and treat others as if they were our closest friend. Only then can we see them as Jesus sees us and understand as He understood us.
Giving our life to Christ requires us to put away our fears and apprehensions and surrender it all to Him. This is not to say we should be naïve to clear threats. However, God always has us under His protection. David did not lay down his slingshot and walk up to Goliath saying, “Hey! Let’s be friends.” He did however trust God to be with him in all circumstances. Is it any wonder he would say:
The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?
Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me. Psalm 118:6-7
Thus, let us focus on the goodness of a God who is for us and lower our non-Christ-like disdain for those who may not be like us but may one day serve God as we do. Who can you pray for that is seemingly not on your side? How can you look at those who oppose you as someone you love on? My prayer is that we put aside our often flawed and sinful biases and look to realize our enemy may one day be as Jesus Christ is to us: a friend. Amen.