The previous posts in this brief series may be found here and here. Note that this post assumes that support for today’s Democrat Party is a serious error inconsistent with Christian faithfulness and witness, especially for Christian leaders. I’ve argued that elsewhere. Time and space does not permit me to reargue that here.
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As noted in the two previous posts in this post-election series, we can rejoice that the totalitarians have taken a major defeat that gives us more space and freedom for a time at least, and can also rejoice that we have new allies, many of whom are willing and even eager to give The Faith a hearing. At the same time, it is clear that many of our cultural/political adversaries, both in and outside the institutional church, are not of a mind to repent, relent, or go away. Well, some are of a mind to go away to Canada, England, or Bluesky, but anyway….
The question is how should us Christians deal with these adversaries. It is a complicated question. There is no one size fits all answer. I do think it needful to recognize adversaries as adversaries. And if those who promote abortion and transing children as good and your freedom of speech and freedom of religion as bad are not your adversaries, maybe you should rethink that. But we should deal very differently with a teacher who is trying to indoctrinate your children into Queer Theory and other wokeness than with an ardent Harris Democrat family member who respects you and puts aside disagreements to love you and yours.
Like I said, it can be complicated. Fortunately we have the example and teaching of Christ to guide us. And His first and second commandments are love. (Matthew 22:39,39) We are to love. And “love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8) If we shun friends and family over political differences, as a few afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome are doing, the problem is probably much more a lack of love than any political differences. My hippie MSNBC-watching dad and this anti-Marxist anti-Globalist hothead get along fine. How? We love each other. Genuine love puts any number of sins and errors and sharp differences to the side and in their place.
And, yes, we really are to love our enemies, too. Not only is that Christlike, but amazingly it works sometimes. I know of committed Lib/Leftists who went on safaris through exotic red areas and even to Trump rallies and were won over by the tolerance, kindness and joy shown there. At the very least, loving our enemies and adversaries helps keep our opposition to them from becoming ugly.
Part of love is forgiveness. Now there is no obligation to forgive where there is no repentance. And insisting people have an obligation to forgive when there is no apology is errant and even abusive in my opinion, but that is a thorny topic. Yet often it is wise to forgive even when there is no repentance or apology. Forgiving helps prevent bitterness and facilitates relationships. What if we insisted, for years even, for an apology for every wrong from a friend or relative? Would we want God to be that exacting with us?
Jesus did not wait for apologies when he forgave from the Cross those who crucified Him. Surely that was one reason the Centurion was moved to proclaim, “Surely this is the Son of God.” Forgiveness can be more impactful than punishment or insisting that every wrong be made right.
As love is willing to forgive, love is also patient. It can endure and bear a lot. (1st Corinthians 13, of course) God is patient with us; we should be patient with others. That includes leaving plenty of room for repentance. As I noted in my previous post, it is amazing how the past few years have caused the most dogged adversaries to change their minds and become allies. That includes people I had wrongly written off, such as Russell Brand and Naomi Wolf. God gave and still gives room for us to repent — much more space than we deserve. We should do likewise with others. You might be surprised who eventually gets it and responds.
At the same time, love must often be tough. Part of love is defending your church, your family, your country, and yourself among others. So love is not enabling the Invasion that is plaguing the West. Love is not advocating for woke “justice” that enables criminals and predators. Love is not untethered empathy for willful evil. Love is defending against invasion, woke predations, crime and more.
And part of of defending the church you love is you do not accept the leadership of those with such bad judgement as to push Critical Theory, enable the Invasion or endorse the likes of Kamala Harris. Not only is such bad judgement in itself disqualifying, those church leaders who exercise such bad judgement usually end up in outright apostasy from The Faith. I’ve seen that time and time again. “You shall know them by their fruit.” (Matt. 7:15-20)
While loving our enemies, we still oppose their evil. You do not back down from contending for what is right and against what is evil. “Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” (Prov. 25:26) As God empowers us, we do not give way. And we certainly do not “call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20) because someone we love does so. We keep loving such, but we do not follow.
Tough love includes justice. Election fraudsters, predatory political prosecutors, antifa, human traffickers, etc. — a big reason the worst and most dangerous of our adversaries keep committing their crimes is they keep getting away with it. For the sake of our society, we need more of these in prison.
Much more could be said of these tough caveats. But they do not apply to most of the adversaries we have contact with. They probably apply to very few if any in your personal life. They will probably apply to no one who might grace your Thanksgiving table. Love them, welcome them, and feed them well. (And maybe back away from political discussions and from “owning the libs” for a day.)
We are called not merely to think better and vote better and advocate better than them, and to oppose them when necessary; we are called to be better than them and love better than them. That most certainly includes loving them as much as we can and giving them the respect due to all made in God’s image whom Christ loves. That is a much more important part of our witness, of living out the Gospel, than any political actions we might take.
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Note: With Advent approaching, I will at least pause this series until after Christmas . . . which will last until the Feast of Epiphany, and don’t you forget it.
After the Celebration: Adversaries and Love
