Memorial Day Post: Who Is My Enemy

Who Is My Neighbor?
Who Is My Enemy?

When Jesus told a questioner to love his neighbor as himself, the questioner asked, “Just who is my neighbor?”
When Jesus preached that we should love our enemies, not one asked, “Just who is my enemy?”
We all think we know quite well who the enemy is, but in the thick of battle, whether of words or bullets, knowing just who your enemy is can be a real problem. Often we shoot our friends.

With the powers of this world being shaken today, and people of all kinds flying all places (imagine a box of cookies being vigorously shaken), our enemy can well be our neighbor, and the guy next door could be a suicide bomber. For the children of this present age, that’s a terrifying thought capable of creating all kinds of paranoia, panic, and potentially foolish and frightening behavior. Listening to the media fear mongers can  quickly make one afraid.

For the children of The Kingdom, the present situation is an opportunity from God himself. Earlier this month one of my colleagues told me about his  ongoing phone conversations with someone from Minneapolis who went to Mogadishu to participate in the constitutional convention being attempted there. Another friend, John Spaulding, shared with me a sermon he preached in his church with the hope of gathering a small group of people to minister specifically to the Muslim Somalis. I’d like to share an excerpt from that sermon.

Somalia today is a deadly place for the gospel. Somali society is
in chaos. Christians in Somalia are few; they are harshly persecuted. There’s a long list of
modern Somali martyrs. If you were God and loved Somali people, what might you do? Maybe
take tens of thousands of them out of Somalia and put them down somewhere else, somewhere
nice, somewhere safe? Someplace where they could eat instead of starve? Someplace where
their kids could get an education? Someplace where they might hear the gospel and meet
people who live it out―someplace like Minnesota, maybe?

“We in our churches desperately need to grasp the big picture of what God is up to in the world
today. Otherwise we’re going to be found grumbling about what God has done. We’re going to
miss His call and the opportunities He lays before us.

“Islamic extremism is certainly a real danger in today’s world. But there’s a danger that is
probably more immediate for us as ordinary Christians. That’s the danger of being so ruled by
our fears and our prejudices that we disobey at least three clear commands of God’s Word. And
what’s worse, the danger is that we will disobey them with self-righteous zeal. These three
commands are: to love our Muslim neighbors as ourselves, to bear no false witness against
them, and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them….”

Now for something different, a recent example of a refreshing faith conversation–in this case
with a Muslim student at the U of MN. We had read and talked about the temptation of Jesus in
Luke 4. “How,” he asked, “was Jesus able to recognize and resist his temptations? Is there a
way we can we be as successful as he was?” I pointed out that Luke says Jesus was “full of the
Holy Spirit” there in the desert. “Can we be like that, too?” he wondered. Well, yes, since you
asked….”

Who is my enemy? I suppose it’s the person who declares war against me. But if I do not declare war against him, then I am not his enemy. That is the position to which Jesus calls us, both in personal life and in the corporate life of the church, and this is the gospel we hold up for the governments and corporations of the world to take note of in  the hope their leaders will repent and believe. The gospel is both the force that has initiated the shaking of worldly powers and the catalyst that hastens their demise, but our LORD has told us again and again, “Fear not! I am with you.”