“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:27-31

There is a tendency to just casually skim through these sayings without giving too much thought to them. We might think they are irrelevant to us. Most of us do not believe that we have a personal enemy or a nemesis seeking to destroy our lives. We might have overbearing bosses, annoying relatives, perfidious friends, competitive colleagues, and overall irritating people in our lives. They might take up all our strength and energy while they torment us with their presence. However, it does not take much for us to forgive them and leave them in our memories. In fact, personal enemies are easy for us, in most cases, to leave behind. It is the abstract enemies which linger on. Sometimes they are real threats and sometimes they are just invented to bring people together in their common hatred. All societies function based on this hatred of an enemy. It is not a modern concept, nor is it caused by the media. The latter only gives what the public demands. In reality, it is human nature. All our creative impulses are based on hatred. We live in this world and it functions through strife as wisely stated by one of the fathers of Western Philosophy, Heraclitus;

“The opposite is beneficial; from things that differ comes the fairest attunement; all things are born through strife.”

We need strife fueled by hatred to function. All political parties and movements understand. The most successful ones are the ones conjuring up the clearest image of the enemy of their choice; the source of our misfortunes and lack of happiness. No one can get ahead without hating the enemies in politics and business and life in general. Of course, we do not use the word, “hate”. We find euphemisms to disguise them. We have to be honest with ourselves and recognize the power of hatred active within us.
Therefore, when Jesus said that we should love our enemies, He is proposing a radical change in society. He is not taking any sides because all sides have an enemy to hate and despise. He is eliminating hatred. This creates a series of problems for us. There are some real diabolic leaders and people in this world. We cannot pretend that they are our friends. However, Jesus never said that we should stop recognizing them as our enemies. He warns us that we should not be drawn into the same web of hatred which fuels them. In fact, when we hate our enemies we are just becoming like them, full of hatred and bitterness. Expressions of Communism in our recent history provide us with ample examples. They fought against the oppressive Capitalists or Imperialist regimes which they hated and ended up becoming exactly like them. Hate generates hate. Jesus ushers a new creation free from the vicious cycle.

It is important to realize that this is not a suggestion. Jesus Himself clearly states later in the same passage,

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” Luke 6:46

If we decide to follow the footsteps of our Lord, then we need to forsake hatred. It means that we forsake the tools of hatred like slander and malicious talk. It means we forsake listening and consuming anything allowing hatred to grow in our hearts. It means forgoing a lot of the things which unites us. Hatred unites nations and gives people a sense of solidarity. The people of Israel were united with the Romans when they shouted, “Crucify Him!”

This is definitely not a doctrine which can be taught. In reality, turning this into a doctrine is surest victory for hatred. Jesus proposes a lifestyle and His Life is an example. I simply cannot go to the streets and tell our children and teens, “Love your enemy”. For most of them, it would be the person who abused or raped them. It could be the person who murdered their parent or sibling. It could be the corrupt policeman who constantly torments them with threats and violence. They might nod and agree with me out of respect for our friendship but my words will have no effect on them. Loving the enemy is not an idea. It is something we need to work out with fear and trembling. First of all, we need to recognize the hatred within us. If we pretend that it doesn’t exist, then we will also ignore the fact that we are allowing it to grow through constant exposure to instruments of hatred present in this world. We need to be honest with ourselves. We also need to be honest that it is not an easy thing to love those whom we like to despise. Then we are ready to address the issue with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a lifestyle and not a one time event.

This last week while I was recovering from the side effects of long Covid, I was thinking about the children and teens we met over the years. For some strange reason, a particular boy came to my mind. I could not remember his name but I remember was that he was extremely difficult. He was very disrespectful. He would constantly provoke us and sometimes destroy some of our equipment. He was a thorn in our flesh. Then all of a sudden he disappeared. We heard later that he was in a detention center. He was heavily involved in crime. Last Wednesday, I was feeling well enough to go back to the streets. There were a bunch of new young men with the children and teens. All of them had the type of tattoos which revealed that they were deep into the gang life. However, they still had open and friendly faces. One of them approached us and shook our hands. Then he said, “You don’t recognize me anymore, do you? I am Jonathan.” Sure enough it was the young boy who I was thinking about, He is now 21. Unfortunately, he has been in and out of prison over the past few years. I made a comment that he was a terror before. He smiled and said, “You do remember me!” I told him that I did not remember him because of his bad behavior but I knew that he was a good kid behind all that bad behavior. He sat beside us and wanted to show some pictures of where he was living. He just got out of prison but from the pictures, I do not think that he is going to last a long time outside. His friends were definitely tough gang members. He even admitted that one of them was in prison now. He did not have any photos of his family members. Perhaps the gang is his only family. He really seemed happy that we remembered him. Just looking at this young man and his tender manners, it is hard to believe that violence is strong part of his life. He got a phone call and excused himself. Mary overheard part of the conversation. His friends wanted to meet and blow up an ATM machine.

Jonathan is stuck in a cycle that will eventually kill. Hatred has been fueling this young man his whole life. I can not just say to him, “Love your enemy.” He needs to know what is love first. It needs to be communicated to him in a way which is clear and precise. Jonathan wanted to have some contact with us when he was young and he used violence and hatred to achieve that. Now, he knows that he has a place reserved for him. There is no need nor room for hatred between us. Hopefully, we will see him again. Until then, we have to continue in our decision to love our enemies despite the things they do.