One consistent message of the New Testament is as follows. Because we’re Christians, our lives will be uncomfortable. Sometimes that reality slaps us across the face. For a church last Sunday in St. Paul, MN, that reality confronted them in an unexpected way as protesters sinfully interrupted their time of worship with confrontative and obnoxious chanting and yelling.
This was certainly not the right thing for the protesters to do (whatever their reasons). They unjustifiably scared people, including children. The action could have escalated quickly to physical violence. What they did was indeed shameful, and legal recourse is a legitimate consideration for Christians when unjustly treated (c.f. Paul in Philippi, Acts 16).
I do worry, however, that in situations like these, that it is easy for Christians (myself included) to momentarily forget Jesus’ clear teaching about loving our enemies even in the midst of mistreatment. In the midst of our pursuit over justice (a pursuit that is legitimate), and along with a mixture of worry over what might happen in our own gatherings on Sundays, we might be tempted to temporarily forget what Christ told us to do in Matthew 5:43-47:
“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 who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?”
A few things that become immediately clear from this text are as follows. Christians are to:
1. Love even when they are hated.
2. Bless even when they are cursed.
3. Pray for those who treat them spitefully.
4. Do good to those who want to harm them.
And we are to do these things in order to demonstrate that our relationship with the Father is real (i.e. that we are his children in Christ). This is a good opportunity for Christians everywhere, therefore, to ask God to save those individuals who acted so shamefully, to bless those who spoke reviling words to those Christians gathered for worship, and to have an attitude of love that seeks the good of other people (even when those people aren't seeking ours).
We need to remember at these moments, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). We need to remember that God demonstrated his own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Abounding Grace Radio