Love my enemies? In this economy?
MLK, Jesus, and the myth of Us vs. Them
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On January 15th, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Alberta Williams King and Michael King Jr., the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
He graduated from Morehouse College 1948, followed by Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951, where he was the valedictorian. In 1954 he became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. The next year, in June of 1955, he received his doctorate from Boston University.
Later that same year, on a city bus in Montgomery, a Black woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. A few days later, Dr. King formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In the month that followed, Dr. King was put on the FBI watchlist, called a domestic terrorist, received numerous death threats, and his home was bombed.
On the night of the bombing, Dr. King stood in front of his bombed-out house urging the angry crowd to continue practicing nonviolence. A couple of years later, on November 17, 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. stood in the pulpit of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and delivered a sermon titled, “Love Your Enemies.” Here is how it starts:
I want to turn your attention to this subject: “Loving Your Enemies.” It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation: the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: “Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”
Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I believe that last line with every bit of my soul:
“Love will save our world. Yes, love even for our enemies.”
By every measure, our world is fractured. We are divided by politics, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religion, and so many other things. Social media, cable news, and the internet have made it even easier to ideologically isolate ourselves.
We now know exactly how a person feels about a plethora of things from the moment we encounter their online accounts. We then take their opinions, compare them against our own, and decide if they are one of us— if they are “our people” or “those people.”
The phrase “our people” or “my people” has become really popular over the past decade or two. We see it a lot on social media, friends and loved ones posing in a picture together with the caption “I love my people,” or, “these are my people.”
Pastors actually use this phrase a lot. When talking about someone in the church they lead, a pastor will often say, “one of my people…” And it’s not a possessive thing, it springs from a deep love and affection for those they have been called to pastor.
If you listen closely, you’ll hear folks talk about “my people” in all different ways. Whatever we call them, we all have “our people.” Usually “our people” become “our people” because of shared interests, similar world-views, and common experiences. To put it another way, “our people” usually:
Think like us
Look like us
Talk like us
Worship like us
and Vote like us
This is especially true in the church. According to research done in 2015, most Western churches are homogenous in basically every way, and the research shows that the vast majority of attenders in these churches don’t want things to change.
It’s only natural, right? We embrace “our people” and exclude “those people.”
But what if I told you that Jesus talks significantly more about how we treat “those people” than how we treat “our people?” In fact, rather than teaching us how to better care for “our people,” Jesus taught that the measure of our faith is how we love “those people.” Namely, our enemies.
Throughout his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses the phrase, “You have heard it said… but I tell you…” Jesus is essentially saying “You’ve been taught the old ways, but pay attention! Because I am doing something new. This is how you think you’re supposed to be Godly, but this is what life in my Kingdom really looks like.”
For example, Jesus says in Matthew 5, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all…”
Jesus says they used to ensure trust based on promises and contracts, but now, he’s calling them to be trustworthy with every single thing that comes out of their mouths. Jesus is expanding the ethical vision of his people. He’s saying, “The religious establishment, or the dominant culture, or the Roman Empire may operate like this, but in My Kingdom, we operate like this.”
He continues dichotomizing his Kingdom with worldly kingdoms as he moves through this section of the Sermon on the Mount:
“Other kingdoms make contracts, but My Kingdom makes good on their word.”
“Other kingdoms forbid the act of adultery, but My Kingdom forbids lust for anyone other than your spouse.”
“Other kingdoms condemn murder, but My Kingdom condemns the hate in your heart.”
Jesus is calling the people of his new Kingdom to a higher ethic. While Jesus has been explaining pieces of this higher ethic throughout this sermon, it is most clearly depicted in the last verses of Matthew 5.
You have heard that it was said, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.”
Matthew 5:38
When Jesus says, “eye for eye and tooth for tooth,” he is quoting two different Old Testament laws, one from Exodus 21 and the other from Deuteronomy 19. These are called “laws of retaliation” and they have the same basic purpose: ensuring that the punishment fits the crime.
These “laws of retaliation” are primarily about legal proceedings between people. If person A hurts person B, these Old Testament laws ensured that person A would be punished in the same way they hurt person B. Eye for eye, hand for hand, life for life— no more, no less.
So Jesus is saying, “You’ve heard it said that the punishment should fit the crime, but I tell you…”
But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.
Matthew 5:39
The word “resist” here is a legal term from the Greek word, “ἀνθίστημι” (anthistémi) which literally translates to “take the stand against.”
“Don’t resist the evil person” can be best understood as “don’t press charges against the person who hurts you.”
The laws of retaliation say, “eye for eye and tooth for tooth” so if you are slapped on the cheek, it would rightly follow that you would press charges and the perpetrator’s punishment would be you slapping their cheek in return. But Jesus says, instead of you slapping their cheek as a fair retaliation, turn and let them slap you a second time.
Jesus is saying, “The law says ‘take the stand’ against your enemy, but I’m telling you to ‘stand down.’ The law told you how to punish fairly, but I’m telling you to how to love fully.”
And then he takes it even further. Jesus moves from passive commands of non-retaliation, to active commands of sacrificial love.
And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Matthew 5:40-42
Again, we see Jesus raising the ethic of his Kingdom. In each of these commands, Jesus is telling his followers to act more graciously and more generously than the Law demands.
This verse is where we get the popular phrase, “going the extra mile,” and this expression really captures the essence of Jesus’ instructions here. Not only are we called to let go of our retaliation, we are called to “go the extra mile” and actually work for the good of those who are against us.
All of these commands even apply to our enemies.
You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:43-45
Love your enemies. Not like your enemies. Not be nice to your enemies. Love your enemies.
It’s important to note that most of the New Testament was written in Greek. You may or may not know that Greek has four different words for “love.” They are almost always simply translated as “love” in our English Bibles, but knowing which love the author is referencing can really help illuminate a passage like this.
The four meanings of “love” in Greek:
Phileo - This is a sibling kind of love. A friendship. It’s where we get the word Philadelphia, which means “city of brotherly love.”
Storgé - This is a love that comes naturally. It’s something you can’t help, like how you love your favorite food or sports team.
Eros - Where we get the word “erotic.” This is love based on attraction. It’s a fleeting and misleading kind of love.
Agape - This is the deepest and noblest kind of love. It is self-sacrificing and completely devoted to the object of the love. This love keeps on loving even when the loved one is unresponsive, unkind, unlovable, and unworthy. This is unconditional love.
Guess which word is used in this verse about loving our enemies?
Agape.
This is a higher ethic, my friends. This is the Kingdom of God, a place where we are called to unconditionally love our enemies. I love how Jesus wraps this up talking about just how counter-cultural his Kingdom really is.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you are only kind to your own people [could even be read as “our people”], how are you different than anyone else? Even pagans do that.
Matthew 5:46-47
We all look after our own people. We have a natural inclination to care for those we love. The kingdom of this world says, “protect your people,” and “it’s either us or them.” But the Kingdom of God says, “There is no more ‘us and them.’ We are all God’s people, made in God’s image.”
In the decade following Martin Luther King Jr.’s sermon about loving your enemies, his enemies threatened him, falsely accused him, attacked him, arrested him, and eventually murdered him.
If anyone in recent history had a right to hate their enemies, it was Dr. King.
So did Jesus. But after his enemies had arrested him, lied about him, beaten him, and hung him on a cross, do you know what Jesus did?
When they came to the place called Calvary, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:33-34
We don’t get to decide who we love or how we love them. Jesus decided that for us. On a hill called Calvary, Jesus proclaimed that every single person is worthy of love. And not just any kind of love: sacrificial love. Agape love. Jesus decided that every single person on the planet is worth dying for.
We look at the people who murdered Jesus on that cross and say, without hesitation, that they were his enemies, but Jesus never saw them that way. To Jesus, they were God’s children. Maybe they were lost like the prodigal son or the sheep gone astray, but children nonetheless.
Jesus told us to “love our enemies” because he knew that we couldn’t love someone for very long without those walls of us vs. them slowly corroding. He wanted us to see that, for the Christian, the entire world is “our people.”
It’s important to mention here that loving our enemies does NOT mean allowing ourselves or someone else to be abused. It also doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work for justice. In fact, working for justice and standing against abuse because even more powerful when we commit to enemy love because we are doing so out of love for both perpetrator and the victim. We love the victim too much to allow them to keep suffering and we love the perpetrator too much to allow them to continue their abuse, because neither suffering nor abuse are what God has in mind for God’s children.
As one of the fathers of liberation theology, Leonardo Boff, says, “God flings the proud of heart to the earth, in the hope that they will be delivered from their ridiculous vaunting and flaunting, to become free and obedient children of God and brothers and sisters to others.”
I talk a lot more about how enemy love and calls to “forgive and forget” have sometimes been weaponized in this article if you’re interested in diving deeper.
C.S. Lewis famously said, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” Every single person in this world has been made in the image of God and every single one of them deserves our unconditional love.
The next time you come across one of “those people,” remember that Jesus considers them worth dying for. And if that’s the case, who are we to treat them with anything less than love?
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
1 John 4:8-9
Our God is Love, and the love of God, working in us and through us, is our only hope.
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I used to feel "guilt" when I didn't "feel" the feeling of love towards someone else. Maybe that person wronged me, or seems to be uncaring towards other people, or is on what I consider to be on the wrong side politically, etc. I couldn't seem to dredge up the feeling of love. Then I re-read 1 Corinthians 13, considered the "LOVE" chapter of the Bible. The word for love there was rendered charity in the King James English. The word charity connotes action. The words describing what this is in 1 Corinthians 13 are mainly words of what we do rather than what we feel. Words like "being" patient, kind, not envying, does not boast, etc. To me, that means I can "act" loving without feeling loving. Sometimes I do feel love for someone who wrongs me or others. It doesn't feel natural. It is a supernatural feeling that rises above my usual emotions. I recognize it as agape love. A love that fills me rather than me working it up through thinking. I so believe that Jesus in NOT asking us to continue to allow ourselves to be abused by others. To do so actually harms them by enabling them to remain the way they are. I think of Jesus overturning the tables in the temple. Clearly, there is a line in the sand. I'm reading a book by David Gate, "A Rebellion of Care." He believes it is in our love and care for others that the world (and our country) will become a better place. I believe this too. People will be drawn to love...not hate or chastisement. To be honest, I need a lot of work in this area.
This is brilliant. I was up most of the night writing something very similar. Not from a Christian perspective, but I deeply value that lens. It’s the religion my parents identified with, and many of my closest friends are Christian.
This emphasis on love is a crucial, and often missing, piece in social justice work. I don’t see a path forward unless we learn to love.
I especially appreciate your clarity in addressing common misconceptions about love. Love is not a passive force that simply approves of others’ behavior. Love does not harm and as embodied by the central figure of your faith, love stands against harm being done to the vulnerable.
Love loves for the sake of loving. I’ve come to believe it’s the most powerful force on this planet. That’s why I’ve committed myself to a life of service to Love.
I believe love is the “light burden that is easy to carry” that your Jesus spoke of so long ago. If we are to see peace in our time, it will come on the heels of a love movement unlike anything the world has known. Perhaps then, those who still wear the label of Christian might begin to fully experience the promise: “greater works will you do because I go to the Father.”
I had a conversation about this with a Christian friend about eight years ago. He asked, “What do you want me to do? Walk around like I’m Jesus?”
I replied, “That’s a thought. Boy, would you be a blessing.”
Is it not your apostle Paul who said that Christ in you is your hope of glory? Was he speaking of a different Christ? I think not.
Thank you again for this thoughtful and inspiring post. I’ll be publishing something similar this weekend. From a different perspective, but it’s heartening to see the parallels. May I link to your post when I share mine, in case some of my readers resonate with a Christian identity?