TOUGH LOVE

Who is really my enemy?

I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father. Matthew 5:44-45

  When we speak of tough love we usually associate it with a parent or mentor figure having to punish or criticize someone in their care in order to teach them a valuable lesson. However, when I read or hear the biblical passage above I see tough love more as the struggle we all have to endure in order to create the Kingdom of God that Jesus began during His earthly ministry. This month I would like to share some thoughts regarding what we might be able to do to continue the construction of this Kingdom when it comes to the way we see our neighbor.

  One of the things I love most about Jesus is He was not just a talker but a doer. He never asked His followers to do anything that He Himself didn't do. He spoke out against injustice, endured great persecution and was the first martyr of the Church. And again, He wasn't just willing to do it, He knew it was going to be part of His life and willingly accepted it.

  Although Jesus knew that His Gospel would create division He never stated that anyone was excluded from accepting it because one of the greatest gifts God gave us was free will. But when Jesus sought to bring the human race together He knew that the greatest challenge would be to detach ourselves from those that we had a close relation to. Sure, He could have said that it would be best for all of us to forsake these attachments but could only do so when He Himself did it! One simply need recall Luke 8:21 when He said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” Again, He did what He asked the rest of us to do.

  So when I look back at the idea of loving my enemy I ask myself who is my enemy? Obviously many would say someone that stood for something that I oppose or someone that had wronged me in some way. However, if that person was indeed my biological brother or sister would I still see them as my enemy?

  The reason why we must ask ourselves this question is because it immediately shows an imbalance due to a form of discrimination based simply on the fact that certain people share the same parents. Somehow this has caused generations of people to believe that such a connection entitles siblings some type of extra consideration. Aside from that though, being one's sibling does create a type of communicative advantage since many people know, or have access to people that know, their siblings very well, which would in turn give us a greater insight on why they may have done what they did to us.

  Consider now this scripture from 1 John 3:5-6: “ You know that He was revealed to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who remains in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.” We all know that Jesus foretold the world that belief in Him could create division, even within a family. But rather than looking at such a possibility, perhaps we need to look at why this division occurs. According to John, perhaps we know of Jesus and the other person doesn't. If they are in sin and we are not, then of course they may be more prone to wrong anyone, much less us. Therefore, going back to Jesus' call to love our enemies we can now understand all the more as to why we should, “pray for those that persecute us.” Not because it's just the thing to do but because if this sinner could indeed see the light of the Gospel they would surely not only apologize for their offense but also change their lives in a way to make sure that they do not hurt anyone again.

  And if we are willing to do this for all people then we would truly be one global family under Christ.

  But this type of teaching also applies to our everyday things. Perhaps most people reading this article right now are Christians but all of us do things on a daily basis that are not Godlike. All of us fall victim of our shortcomings and sin against our neighbor. That is why John said in 1 John 1:8-9, “If we say, ‘We are without sin,' we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.” Therefore, we must always be aware of our wrongdoings and not fear the idea of telling our neighbor that we were wrong for what we did. When we do that we acknowledge their human dignity but most importantly, treat them like a child of God as they too are one of the many people in the world that Jesus told us also receives the sun that shines down onto the earth (Matthew 5:45).

  Therefore, I think it is smart to ask ourselves not who is my enemy but why is this person my enemy in the first place , especially when tensions and divisions may have been put up by something else. This, I believe will allow us to see the sin that has taken hold of the sinner rather than the enemy that does not deserve our love.

CARLOS SOLORZANO has a BA & MA in Religious Studies from Cal State Long Beach. He lives in Southern Arizona and teaches theology at Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson , AZ

Contact Carlos at: desert_drumming@yahoo.com