A Most Curious Commandment
There are, of course, many passages in the Gospels that professed Christians have found hard to live by. The favoritism Jesus was alleged to have shown toward the poor, the “halt and the lame,” and the downtrodden does not seem to have done much to dampen our own hunger for riches, soften our resistance to funding a more robust social safety net, or encourage us to make life easier for the differently abled. “Christianity, George Bernard Shaw is said to have quipped, “might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it.”
But of all the ethical admonitions Jesus of Nazareth was said to have uttered, perhaps the one most honored in the breach is “love your enemies, and do them good…” (Luke 6:35). Then as now, that passage has people scratching their heads and wondering what sense it makes. And, if the biblical record is at all reliable, Jesus himself seemed to have hedged a bit on his own instructions.
To be sure, on one occasion he did agree to heal the the seriously ill servant of a Roman Centurion (one of Israel’s despised occupiers). But as for his opponents among the Jewish religious elite - the Pharisees and Sadducees - Jesus was scornfully dismissive, describing them as “vipers,” “fools,” and “hypocrites.” This is hardly an anomaly, for a close reading of the sacred text exposes many such inconsistencies.
Nevertheless, it certainly seems appropriate during this Chanukah/Christmas season to look a little more closely at one of Jesus’ more challenging teachings, particularly since so many of my contemporaries - including a staggering number of confessing Christians - don’t seem to think Jesus meant what he said.
There was the evangelical Georgia voter who, when queried about who she would cast her ballot for in the recent Senatorial runoff, replied “Certainly not Warnock; he’s evil. Then, too, the right-wing vitriol that accompanied the exchange of Brittany Griner for a notorious arms dealer who had already spent the past decade in U.S. custody, was nothing short of appalling. What a travesty, the righteous moaned, that a black, lesbian, drug-addled athlete who had protested on behalf of racial justice should be brought home before Paul Whalen, a white, cisgender male and ex-Marine. Although Whalen’s family members were gracious in their own disappointment, it’s apparent that more than a few Americans would have preferred to see Griner, this unrepentant “sinner,” remain in Russian custody for the full duration of her nine year sentence.
These days we seem to be manufacturing new and dangerous “enemies” faster than Hallmark holiday specials, with Jews, immigrants, transgender youth, and librarians in the forefront of an ever-expanding pack. With regard to our vexed political environment, Parker Palmer once wrote that “Partisanship is not the problem. Demonizing the other side is.” But the “problem,” as it were, far transcends politics. With or without Donald Trump’s blustering encouragement, positions are hardening across the board.
According to the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt we can’t point to individuals rendering independent moral judgments as the primary source of this problem. People bind themselves to groups, he observes, and when we identify strongly with a particular group, it’s enemies, for better or worse, become our enemies. C. Fred Alford, a political psychologist, has reached much the same conclusion. “Look around; the world is full of hate,” he writes.
There are dozens of groups now locked in perpetual hatred. It’s not that they can’t get out. It’s that no one wants to get out…hatred is seductive, a self-chosen bondage to another that serves to structure the psyche.
So…back to Jesus. Driving around our progressive city, I occasionally see yard signs declaring, “Keep Christ in Christmas.” But although such signage is most likely meant to protest the orgy of consumer spending into which the holidays have devolved, it might also prompt us to reflect again on what the Man from Galilee actually stood for. “Love your enemies” is part of that. But, if we had a better handle on what Jesus understood by “love” the phrase’s meaning might be easier to grasp.
When Jesus used that ambiguous term he may have had two things in mind: empathy, and a kind of enlightened self-interest. One of the Rabbi’s great talents was his ability to relate to just about anyone. He was certainly Jewish, but in the broadest sense. Jesus didn’t identify with any particular sect of Judaism, and he didn’t restrict his dealings to persons whom those sects deemed acceptable. Thus, in the course of his peripatetic ministry, he heard many different stories, told by a wide variety of human beings. Because of his exposure to such diversity, Stephen Mitchell writes, Jesus’ vision “came from beyond good and evil…and so he could love the essence of humanity in all people.” Isn’t this what empathy is all about?
And self-interest? That has everything to do with our own mental and emotional well-being. When we identify an individual or group as our “enemy” they often end up dominating our thinking; they keep bobbing into the stream of consciousness and triggering negative emotions. “These persons tend to become the center of our mental world,” Charles Manz knowingly tells us. “They haunt us and become a greater focus that those we really love and care about.” Therefore, the process of reframing the relationship - from “enemy” to “worthy adversary,” for instance - reflects a powerful and self-serving species of love.
This just may be the key to getting out of a self-imposed prison. Can you think of a better holiday gift, or one more appropriate for these perilous times?
