Monday, January 26, 2009

All of my enemies are Christians

I honestly think that one of the most revolutionary teachings of Christ is, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  Over every other teaching of Jesus, I believe this one symbolizes the heart of someone who is truly living in the Kingdom of God more than any other. Shortly after this teaching, Jesus then says, "Be complete and whole as your Father in heaven is complete and whole."  It's like Jesus is saying that if loving your enemies becomes an automatic response, then you are now a complete person.  

But what happens when the only enemies you have are your brothers and sisters in Christ?  I find myself in that situation.  I don't think of Al Qaeda as my enemy (although I'm an American, so apparently they are), and I don't think of atheists as my enemies.  The only enemies I have are Christians.  For some reason, I find it easier to forgive and love someone who has wronged me that isn't a follower of Jesus.  I don't know why that is.  I suppose it's because Christians should know better than to be assholes to each other.  And, make no mistake, Christians can be some of the biggest assholes on the planet.  

I've always had a hard time with Christians.  Not all of them, mind you, but enough of them that I'm no longer in occupational ministry and I have, at times, all but given up on the Church as a whole.  I know that I'm supposed to love them, even when they say horrible things about me, and I do love them.  But I find myself not wanting to be anywhere near them and I'm not sure how Christian that really is.  It's one thing to not want to be around your father if he beat you as a kid, but we're talking about people we are supposed to have a mystical connection with through Jesus.  

So what is the proper response?  If we really loved our fellow Christ followers, shouldn't we want to be around them even if they've hurt us?   

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