I See Evil People Everywhere
Matt. 5:38-48
Did Jesus love the Romans and the Pharisees?
Photo by Carlos Felipe Ramírez Mesa on Unsplash
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matt. 5:38-48
Sometimes, I think that Jesus set the bar too high for us. How do we love those who hate us? Do we call them hypocrites like he did?
I get the first part of this reading. Jesus is trying to make his disciples less likely to be hurt or robbed. He is saying, take the abuse. Show your enemy that you can take what they dish out and go even further.
That may give you the chance to live to fight another day, but does it work in our fractured society?
There was a time when we didn’t see each other as enemies, but rather as people with different opinions. We could walk to school together and have lunch in the cafeteria, even though our beliefs were totally different.
Evil people were out there, somewhere far away. They weren’t living next door or in our own house.
Social media has made it easy to spread and foment hatred. People only like and share posts that get our emotions up, and most of that is accusatory and hateful.
It doesn’t matter which side of an issue you are on; the drive for clicks and likes makes us want to get people riled up.
Why are we so easy to persuade?
Some believe it is because we no longer read.
The literacy rate has been falling steadily in recent years, all across the globe. Most read no more than the shocking headline, while looking at the meme or video.
There will come a day when we no longer know how to read. We will rely on podcasts, videos, posts, and audio to get our information.
Oh, that day is already here.
I have thousands of followers across social media, and yet I will see fewer than thirty people reading this reflection. That’s okay, because I am trying to reach the few not the many.
But I could reach many more if I change the headline. People will like and share without reading if I am provocative enough, if I anger enough people.
We are back in Jesus’s day, when most people couldn’t read, and no one took the time to tell them what was really happening around them.
They were thirsty for news and Jesus gave it to them.
Come to think of it, his headlines were a bit shocking for the times. Love your enemy.
He said the opposite of what the people in power wanted people to believe and he was killed for it.
That didn’t stop his followers from continuing to educate and heal.
So, maybe the lesson for us is to keep showing love. It may get us killed, but it is the only way to end this nonsense.
Maybe we can stop seeing evil people everywhere.
More to come...