Love in the Age of Anger

       Remind me again who it is that Jesus calls me to love? 

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matthew 5:44 ESV)

So, that would be everyone. Enemies as well as friends. Those who disagree with me as well as those who agree with me. In fact, the degree of difference, or their regard for me, does not enter the equation. If I love Jesus, and they do not, I am still to treat them with love, grace, and compassion.

         These are the people Jesus describes as “my neighbor.” Once again, my approach to them? I am to love them, serve them, pray for them. In this way, I am extending the love of Jesus to them. In this way, I am incarnating Jesus in my time and place. When I love my neighbor, I am contributing to the tent-pitching described in John 1.14 where John’s picturesque phrase says that Jesus pitched his tent amongst us. He has ascended leaving us to continue His work. His indwelling Spirit is not some quaint parting gift He gave as a memento or souvenir. The Holy Spirit enables Jesus’ Church to be His body in fact as well as in doctrine. It empowers us to pitch and re-pitch that tent of presence which facilitates God’s continuing work in the world. We are to be the body of Christ. The Bride of Christ. The presence of Christ.

         You might ask, “What about people who mistreat me or trample upon my rights!?” Let’s go over this one more time.

““But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” (Luke 6:27 ESV)

Does that sound optional to you? Does Jesus imply that it is conditional? Is there some indication that this was a temporary mandate that worked back then but will not work in our worrisome, woke, 21c hostile culture? No! There is no indication that that was then and this is now. As the New Testament addresses life among the heathen in various cities and regions of the empire it stresses that our interaction with our neighbors should be typified by love, compassion, humility, grace, peace, and kindness.  When Paul, Peter, John, and James address our interaction with outsiders their instruction mirrors the words of Jesus. We are never called to belittle those outside the Church. We are not expected to exploit them. We are not called to exclude, hate, badger, fight with, or “own in argument” those outside the Church.

         “Doesn’t Jesus want us to; fight with unbelief, struggle for the faith, contend for the truth, defeat the enemies of God?” Yes. Kind of. If you properly understand how our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did those things and what He expects of us in turn.

“Matthew 16:24   Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew 16:25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24–25 ESV)

All these quotations from the New Testament must be making some of y’all dizzy. Far too much of our recent religious vs. irreligious, conservative vs. liberal, us vs them, good vs. evil conversation has been conducted with vague, quasi-Biblical, sort-of-Christian, corrosive language which denies many of the central behavioral expectations of the Gospel. Too many of us have unashamedly become fanged sheep, focused on power and influence in the world rather than Jesus-honoring discipleship. A naked, bleeding Jesus said

“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.” (Luke 23:34 ESV)

Many who claim to wear His name have clearly forgotten the implications of cross-bearing that come with wearing His name. The cross we are called to bear is not a decoration. Submission is not an afterthought. Humility is not an option. Your love of your neighbor is not a suggestion. Never in the New Testament are we called to “win at any cost.” Never in the New Testament are we called to demean and belittle those who disagree with us. Never in the New Testament is it suggested that there are means to bringing about the Kingdom of God other than engaging in the hard, sacrificial, emptying work of discipleship.

         I should not have to say this. We have long feared the general Biblical illiteracy of the world, the callousness of our culture, and the angry pride of the age. I no longer fear those things because my long study of scripture has repeatedly reminded me that this is the baseline expectation for a fallen and unredeemed creation. My greater concern is that this ignorance, callousness, and anger now typifies the Church. Jesus died to spare the world, not to spank it. That is a colloquial and abbreviated summary of these verses which you know by heart—

“John 3:16  “For  God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16–17 ESV)

Much of the time I can’t tell if we have forgotten these words or have decided to simply ignore them. We like our anger. We like being oppositional. We like quoting the Bible when it suits our ideology but too many would never take it so seriously as to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. We make fun of those people. They are losers. They are suckers. Yet, Jesus said that those “meek will inherit the earth.” According to the Churches current behavior we should expect rather, to inherit the wind.

         How do we fix this? How do we bring the Church back into alignment with the clear teaching of scripture and the authoritative expectation of Jesus? Let me offer a few recommendations for how we can get the Church back on plumb.

 

1.  Read scripture to understand God’s will, not to assemble ammunition for the culture wars.

2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

3. Humility, integrity, submission.

4. Truthfulness always, in all contexts.

5. “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20 ESV)

6.  A disciple is not above his Master.

7. Forgive and forget. (“but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:15 ESV))

8. If you are a new Creation in Christ, act like it. (“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV))

 

I know that many of you will say “yeah but…” or “Whatabout…” Get over it. The New Testament is authoritative. Your hurt feelings, vain pride, wounded ego, and righteous indignation are not. Jesus needs disciples. Jesus called us to be disciples. The world needs disciples, not domineering thugs who will not be satisfied unless they get their way. 

    Some of you who will read this are also going to accuse me of being naive, unrealistic, or just plain wrong. Bring it, baby! Not your opinion. Not something you heard from some incendiary podcast which has a stake in maintaining the Church’s ignorance and anger. Let’s talk scripture. Let’s talk Gospel. Let’s examine what Jesus says about love, kindness, goodness, truthfulness, self-control. You may not agree with me, fine. The question is, do you have the temerity to take exception with Jesus? Are you willing to set aside the clear teaching of the New Testament to hang on to anger? Who is in charge of the 21st Century Church? Jesus or the forces of anger, fear, and conflict?  

    Yes, I have cited scripture without the broader surrounding context; but I have cited those scriptures on point.  If you are a Christian, if you claim that the Bible is authoritative, if you wish to please God; quit quoting it, quit referring to it, quit dragging Jesus into your pique of anger. Be a doer of the Word, not just a hearer.  Maybe try applying it. Maybe try living it. Jesus did. It got Him nailed to a cross. He's got one for me. He's got one for you. Do we love Him enough, do we trust Him enough to carry it to the top of that far way hill we sing of? Are we willing to die on it, or do we wish to nail others to it? This is the true test for loving disciples in the age of anger.