You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those that spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:43-45, NKJV

 

I was watching the President's State of the Nation address the other night, and I have to admit that America has a lot of reason to be concerned right now, for our leaders truly do appear to hate one another. In the days following that address, I noticed something that was even more distressing: Americans are growing to hate one another! 

 

As Jesus pointed out nearly 2,000 years ago, "a house divided cannot stand". It doesn't matter what side of the political aisle you stand on, you would have to admit that we are as divided as we have been in many years. From what I have read of history, you would have to go back to the days leading up to the civil war when our northern brothers hated our southern brothers, or even back to the time of the revolution, when our ancestors who supported a new nation hated our ancestors who supported the king, before you would find a time similar to the one in which we live today.

 

It is hard to imagine a time filled with as much hatred as that of those two wars, but I fear that this is the exact situation we find ourselves in today.

 

Maybe going back to the events around that State of the Nation address will help illustrate the point. It began with a hostile and divided house and senate. The senators and representatives from one side were widely supportive of their guy, while their counterparts on the other side were openly hostile. One side would stand and cheer, the other side would roll their eyes and sometimes heckle the President. One side even brought pre-printed signs that they could hold up so that they could show that they thought the other side was filled with liars and thieves.

 

I have been to fistfights that were more cordial!

 

After the night was over, the supporters for one side immediately began spewing out their vitriol and hatred for the other side. The other side, everyone must surely agree, was bad. Our side, only a fool could disagree, was good. It was like when we were in Junior High and the popular girls (or guys, if you prefer) were fighting for territory. If anyone on your side dared mention that the other side might have a reasonable point, that person was cast out - no longer a friend, and now subject to the rules of war! Only later would we realize how foolish, immature and manipulated we were to get involved with such childish squabbles, but by then the damage had been done. Long standing friendships were traded for even longer standing enmities, and very often these friendships were never restored.

 

It is sad for me to see that many Americans didn't learn the lessons they should have learned when they were in junior high. The conversation in America has turned from one of diplomacy and a genuine rooting for the well-being of all, to a hateful, often profanity-laced discourse that will end up with permanent damage if we are not careful.

 

And the sad thing is that so few people can see it. If they disagree with the other side, they often become blinded to the fact that we are all just fellow journeymen on our way to heaven... or hell if we don't get a hold of ourselves before it is too late!

 

So, what is the solution? Do we just let the other side get away with their plans, no matter how sinful or harmful? I am not suggesting that at all. I believe that there really are issues that are serious enough to warrant our getting involved and taking a stand. Jesus Himself did not stand silently by while the wicked were harming the innocent, and neither should we. But Jesus always did so in a perfect way, and, in the end, He died for those who disagreed with Him. It should be noted, however, that He died so that they might repent of their evil ways and sin no more. He did not die so that they could have the right to continue their evil behavior and still go to heaven. 

 

But again, I ask, what is the solution? The solution is just this: That we take righteous stands, when those stands are necessary. That we express our disagreement with sinful ways, and that we try to convince those who are engaged in that evil to turn from their wickedness. However, as we do so, we want to take these righteous stands in love. We want to oppose in such a firm way that people aren't left wondering where we stand, but also in such a pleasant way that people (at least those who have some decency in them) will see that we do not hate them -it's simply that we do not support their unrighteous behavior.

 

God has given us all an opportunity to repent when we are wrong. We at least need to be able to leave a door open for those whom we oppose in order that we might have unity again someday. America is currently on a reckless path that will end up in the same way that all houses divided have ended up. I believe the only way we can avoid the consequences for the hateful behavior we have been witnessing of late (and maybe even having been involved with, to our shame) is to tone down the hateful discourse and learn to love our enemies in such a way that they change from the ways that have made them our enemies in the first place.

 

We do not have to agree with everyone, and we will at times find that we do indeed have enemies. Our responsibility is to take a righteous stand in the areas that God expects us to, but to do so in such a way that we are loving them and even praying for them when they persecute us. God has left us no other options, so let's at least try it His way before we give in to our more childish instincts to do it in any other. One path leads to heaven, the other to hell. Which path, I wonder, will we choose?

 

Without wood a fire goes out.

Proverbs 26:20