Christians don't have enemies; we have neighbors... a commentary on Matthew 5. Part 2 of 3
- Andrew Fouts
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
That statement has gotten more traction than anything else we have published in the past 5 years. It received every conceivable response from every conceivable direction, and it resurfaces over and over and over again. Now, though, we have arrived at a time where we can see clearly why this statement has caused as much of an uproar as it has, and that ultimately the hardest part of our mind to allow the Spirit to renew is our desire to have an enemy to conquer.
Where Did We Get This Idea
One of the most common objections we receive about this is that Jesus tells us we have enemies in Matthew 5:44.
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
The irony of this being the objection is that Matthew 5 is actually where this idea comes from, but to get there, we need to take a wide-angle view of the Sermon on the Mount as a whole. Now we have looked a few times before about the Sermon on the Mount and must remember that one of the main keys to understanding this sermon is that Jesus was challenging us to look inwardly first and foremost, to best be able to serve outwardly. This is still the case here, and it will become much clearer as we zoom out onto the entirety of the Sermon.
Verse 44
The first thing to look at is verse 44 itself, because it actually gives us both the phrase in question and the basic answer to the objection to our statement. Because Jesus does not stop with love your enemies, he then goes on and defines who these enemies are: “those who persecute you.” Why does this matter? Because the enemies we are called to love are defined as those who seek our destruction.
They view us as their enemy, but we still view them as our neighbors.
This is further illuminated when we pull back out just a bit further to add verse 43.
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
Verse 43
Here, in verse 43, Jesus uses contrasting images between the Love (Agape) of Neighbors and the hatred (misēseis) of enemies, before telling us to Love (Agape) our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. This is not just a literary tool Jesus is employing here. It is a deliberate point he is making, because the categories of neighbor and enemy were not supposed to be separate. Everyone is supposed to be a neighbor. The best way to illustrate this is to take apart the Greek a bit.
Agapaó: A wholehearted love
Most Christians are familiar with this word and understand this to be the Love of God. But that is only the beginning of understanding it. Agape Love is a holistic love, both in the way it is felt and in how it is shown. It is, by definition, all-encompassing in both feeling and action. Fully submissive and sacrificial, and without any expectations from anyone else. This is the word we see in both verse 43 and verse 44 as how we are supposed to feel about both our neighbors and our enemies.
Miseó: Hatred leading to loveless persecution, a choice
This word is interesting because it is a direct contrast to Agape. It is also holistic in nature, but also defined by a conscious choice. Hatred in this context is choosing to love less, to the point of holistic hatred and persecution of another image bearer.
Plēsion: A neighbor, or fellow __________.
Simply put, someone who is near you or who shares a common attribute. This is why the question of who is my plesion in Luke 10 is so important. Because Jesus identifies for us that our neighbors are not just those who share ethnic, geographic, or religious commonalities, but instead, that it is fellow image bearers. The only thing that determines whether we see someone through this lens is if we choose to see Jesus in the person. This is also the basis for Jesus' parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25, although we don't find this word there.
Echthros: Hateful, Hostile, and Irreconcilable Adversary
Maybe the most important word to look at here is the word enemy itself. Afterall, we are told repeatedly that our stance on Christians and Enemies is nitpicking and semantics. The word we see here in Matthew 5 for enemies is ecthros. Ecthros is actively hostile, irreconcilable, and a holistic hatred that desires to bring harm. Very much the opposite of neighbor, it is a holistic desire to see harm come to another image bearer.
“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.”
This contrast helps us illustrate exactly what it is that Jesus is actually telling us here. While it is said that we should holistically love and serve those that we find things in common with and holistically oppose and seek to destroy those we see nothing in common with; Jesus tells us now that we are to holistically love and serve those who seek to destroy us. Because it is not possible to achieve Agape, and still see someone as Ecthros. It is a choice that we must make, to see the common thread in everyone we meet. They are image bearers and loved by God, regardless of how they view me, I must choose to see them in that light.
Understanding this, helps us then understand what Jesus said earlier on as well in Matthew 5:21-26. That to be orgizomenos, moved to rage, was equal to committing murder. Because the moment you allow yourself to be brought to this state of rage is the moment we begin to see less of Jesus and more of an ecthros. And the moment we begin to allow someone to move into the category of an enemy, the easier it becomes to be content with their suffering.
Christians Don't Have Enemies, We Have Neighbors
We see this on full display right now in the world around us. The poor and immigrants are painted as being a problem that must be removed, rather than image bearers needing love. Muslims are described as the enemy coming for your country, rather than image bearers we can serve in our cities. “Insert Political Party or Candidate Here” is coming after your children and so we must defeat them at all costs, rather than seeing them as my neighbor that I need to submit to, pray for, and care for.
This is precisely why I have been insisting for over a year now about “Christians don’t have enemies”. The moment we allow for anyone to be made an enemy instead of a neighbor, is the moment we become ok with their suffering. Just like every other topic covered by the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is issuing us a challenge to look inward and make a choice about how we view other people. Because we can either continue to choose to see others as a burden or threat to remove, or we can see the imago dei and choose to serve them as we would Christ Himself. It is a choice that we must consciously make, and it comes from allowing the Spirit to renew our minds towards the will of Christ. That all men might be saved, rather than destroyed.
This blog is part 2 of a 3-part series on Christianity, Enemies, and Neighbors.
We have had a few recorded discussions related to our previous social media posts on this topic. with Temeko Holness and with Stefon Napier.
This post was written by Andrew Fouts. The founder and main content creator for Ministry Misfits. He is also one of the writers and directors for KFM Broadcasting Network.
This post was edited by Joseph Dea. Joe is a writer for his own blog at https://kfmbroadcasting.wixstudio.com/buddywalkwithjesus and is one of the directors and writers for KFM Broadcasting.
This blog is being crossposted to our network blog at www.kfmbroadcasting.com/blog. If you have found this or other Misfits Resources helpful, check out the network of resources available through KFM!