We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
The Distinctive Mark of Jesus Followers
Image by Rob Hayes via Fickr
Jesus’ teaching to love our enemies was understandably shocking to his original audience—just as it is to us today. Jesus expected much, which is why, after telling his audience to love their enemies he added that if we only love those who love us and do good those who do good to us, we’re doing nothing more than what everyone naturally does (Luke 6:32-33). But his followers are to be set apart by the radically different way of love. The distinct mark of the reign of God is that God’s people love and do good to people who don’t love them and don’t treat them well—indeed, to people who hate them, mistreat them, and even threaten them and their loved ones.
To drive home the importance of this, Jesus says that if we love even our enemies, “then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” The parallel in Matthew has Jesus saying, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Just as God is indiscriminately kind to the ungrateful and the wicked, and just as the Father causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall indiscriminately on the evil and the good, so followers of Jesus are to be distinguished by our ability to love indiscriminately. It makes no difference whether the person is friend or foe. And this, Jesus emphasizes, is the condition for our receiving a Kingdom reward and for our becoming “children of your Father in Heaven.” Our willingness to go against our nature and love and serve enemies rather than resort to violence against them is the telltale sign that we are participants in the Kingdom of God.
Notice that there are no exception clauses found anywhere in the New Testament’s teaching about loving and doing good to enemies. Indeed, Jesus’ emphasis on the indiscriminate nature of love rules out any possible exceptions. The sun doesn’t decide on whom it will and will not shine. The rain doesn’t decide on whom it will and will not fall. So too, Kingdom people are forbidden to decide who will and will not receive the love and good deeds we’re commanded to give.
(This is an excerpt from Myth of a Christian Religion, pages 99-100.)
Category: General
Tags: Enemy Love, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Love, Love Your Enemies, Myth of a Christian Religion, Non-Violence
Topics: Following Jesus
Related Reading
Sermon Clip: Through Samaria
In this final installment of the Women on the Outside series, we explore the story of the woman at the well Jesus encountered while traveling through Samaria and how he dives right in to the gender and racial tensions of the first century Jewish culture. You can listen/watch the full sermon here: http://whchurch.org/sermons-media/sermon/through-samaria
From Boston, With Love
We posted some of T. C. Moore’s reflections on the Open 2013 conference earlier this week. T. C. lives in Boston and was deeply moved by the violence and terror that came to his city. Now we want to share his most recent blog post Oz and the Cross: Reflections on God’s Love and the…
Jesus Feminist
http://youtu.be/FBYELPZmdL4 Sarah Bessey’s book Jesus Feminist releases today. We’re so excited for her and for anyone who gets to read this book. She is first, and foremost a disciple of Jesus, and her embrace of feminism is inextricably wrapped in her identity as a disciple. Here’s a little snippet of something she’s written that beautifully…
Henry’s Mom: Did God Author This?
Many of you were touched last month when we featured some reflections on little Henry’s death. Well, Henry’s mother Jess has started a blog to process through some of her thoughts and we wanted to share this amazing piece with all of you. Jess thinks ahead to the time when her two-year-old daughter will start…
A Brief Theology of Sin
We were created for unbroken, loving fellowship with God. We see this in the creation story. As we share in this unbroken, trusting fellowship with God, we participate in the very love that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share throughout eternity. We also read in the creation story that sin ruptured this fellowship and sidetracked…
Friday Lights: Refuge
Each Friday we post content sent to us by our readers that is inspiring, funny, lighthearted or just generally fun. If you’d like more information on submitting content for this feature you can get more information here. Jean Rath sent us the video above, along with an article that chronicles how this family escaped war and terror…