And yet, I do not have the option. Christ commands love "our enemies", not "our enemies that know us and declare themselves as such". Just "enemies". The word in Greek there is ὲχθρός, which means "hater"; literally Matthew 5:44 says "I say to you, love your hater and pray for the persecutor (δίωκοντον) of you (plural "you", speaking to all)".
For those who claim to be His followers, there really is not a choice.
How do I pray for them? Badly. The best I can seem to muster is something between a "help them to see wisdom" and "let them see the error of their ways (by thought or outcomes)". Not great prayers, I know. We all have to start somewhere.
The only thing that comforts me in these moments is reading of Christians in times past when persecution was physical and being cast out or without rights was not just a theoretical concept but an actual daily fact of life (as it is even our day to many Christians). How could they love their haters in the midst of torture and robbery and mistreatment? Likely my failures are a sign of my weakness: As C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity we should perhaps interpret our lack of trials not as a sign we are doing the right thing but a sign that we are weak and untrained soldiers in a world where the battle is raging and those better trained and more skilled are at the front lines.
Will it be noticed? I have no idea how to answer that. The easy answer is "I do not know", the less easy answer is "I will not likely know". But again, that does not absolve me of the requirement to do so. Like so many things it is not the results that are guaranteed us, only God's presence in the midst of it.
In the end, of course, we will all answer to God for how we lived our lives. I cannot control anyone's else's actions or reactions except my own. But I will be very, very accountable for those actions and reactions.
You're not the only one struggling with this TB, so many political ads out there are a constant assault on peacefulness. So many claims of "Look what I'm doing FOR you" ....ah....when it's "Look at what you're doing TO me".....the struggle continues to be good.......(sigh)
ReplyDeleteNylon12, it comforts me that others struggle with this as well. Oddly enough, it seems like this is one of the least currently preached messages of Christianity.
DeleteMy prayer is also a work in progress. I started with "Lord open their minds and heart that you may change them and save them".
ReplyDeleteSince it really does sound as if I have judged them Guilty and deserving of Hell, I had to change that for two reasons.
1. I am the only one that I know without doubt has Sinned against God (I was there, I saw me do it!)
2. God said He is the Judge, NOT me. To claim that title is a Sin I do Not want laid at my feet.
So my new and somewhat improved prayer for those who torture me is:
"Lord, open their hearts that you may Bless them and bring them closer to your fellowship that Your Love may Heal them".
MSG Grumpy
MSG Grumpy - To be fair to myself, this has really only become a "thought" in the last two weeks or so, mostly because of the quote above, which then made me think...which then produced this post.
DeleteTo your point, I have struggled with what to pray for them as well noting, as you do, that I can neither know their hearts and I cannot act as Judge. Mine is coming closer to yours, something along the lines of "Lord open their hearts to you and may I show your love to them."
It is not great. I need to read more about the Christians in the early centuries to see how they prayed.
Amen
DeleteI pray for them, specifically prayers from the Psalms. That they will be caught in their own traps they lay for me. That the pit they dig for me will catch them. That God will deliver me from their plans and glorify Himself in the process. I ask God to put His dread around me and mine such that they don't even WANT to think about harming us.
ReplyDeleteAt times, I want to pay back the evil, but Paul said don't do that. So I don't. I will do good to them and for them, but I'm not hanging out to visit.
I read somewhere that trying to get what I want by my own machinations is like witchcraft. I'm not sure I'd go that far with it, but I am still considering it. Relying on God is my call. I put my heartfelt desires in His hands and trust Him to do what's necessary. I've seen God defend my family on one occasion, and what happened to that person broke my heart and made me pray for mercy on their behalf. God knows how to get someone's attention, and bring repentance. The best I can do is make a mess.
STxAR - Interesting. This is a secondary thought that been in my mind as well coming from a completely different angle. Too often, it seems to me, we spend too much time worrying about the wicked and their plans and not having faith that God will ultimately bring their plans to naught. That is not to say that we do not do those things that can be done in such situations - only that ultimately our efforts are at best ancillary to God.
Delete(I know, I know - WW II and confronting evil and all. I might argue that such dramatic situations are the exception rather than the rule. Bob from accounting speaking disparagingly about Christ and the Church is a long way from rounding people up to send them away).
God can act - or He cannot. Did the Orthodox priests and believers deserve everything that was thrown at them in the Soviet Union? It is hard to say that they did - but the stories that have come out from those experiences, both those that were martyred and those that were imprisoned, should give us encouragement in every kind of circumstance.
And yes, it is worth noting that ultimately, the "works of man" in Lenin and Stalin were ultimately turned dust.
God protecting His own - we discount that as well it seems to me, to a great extent. There is always the two sides of the coin between complete pacifism (which I am not aligned with) and an almost on-the-offensive defense, which Christ does not seem to have called out either. Paul, for example, did not actively try to defend himself by avoiding suffering per se - but he used the Roman System that he was under to defend his rights as a Roman citizen (and, at least the first time, was ultimately released). In the end, God remains more than capable to defend His Children in every situation. Whether He chooses to do so is entirely up to him - but will be for our ultimate good and His glory.
I'm terribly low on the Christian learning/evolutionary growth scale. I learned the difference between personal love, for family and impersonal, Christian love for all others, long ago. "Turn the other cheek" is for those you trust. Doesn't mean let your enemies cut your throat. For THOSE, I'll use my former plowshare, now sword (figuratively) to defend me and mine.
ReplyDeleteI'm rather old, I know I don't know it all, but the Lord keeps giving me useful lessons and clues. I've had way more than my fair share of near death experiences, so it would appear that the Lord is keeping me around for "continuing educational" requirements. I learn from you, TB and commenters all the time, guess that falls under useful lessons and clues. Thanks for the platform to inform us ignorati.
T_M, what I think you will find up above is we are all low on the growth scale. If it makes you feel any better, reading the Sayings of the Desert Fathers - a collection of sayings and wisdom from monks of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria from circa A.D. 300 - 460 - is that after a lifetime of dedication of a life to nothing but Christ, they still felt unworthy and uneducated.
DeleteI might quibble with one item. You are no more "ignorati" than the rest of us here. We are all imperfect vessels on a journey towards God. In this sense, the Orthodox idea of theosis/Protestant idea of sanctification - that we are in our lives becoming more like God in small and slow ways - is our model.
I don't think all enemies can be saved, and are servants of Satan. That's my gray area in who God wants to save, or wants destroyed. Discernment is what I pray for, and hope I never have to be involved with the destruction of those that have souls that already died.
ReplyDeleteJess - Scripture says that God desires all to be saved, but also effectively says that all will not be saved. Servants of Satan? Possibly - although clearly Christ would have known that when he said "Pray for them", so I do not think that can be an impediment to not praying for them (of course, not praying for their designs to succeed, which is perhaps different from praying for the individuals, and may have been what STxAR was getting at above).
DeleteI would far rather see them saved than participate in their destruction.
We can pray for their salvation. We can pray for the failure of Baal's agenda. We can pray out bad politicians who support Baal's agenda and pray in people with God's heart.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere I read or was told that Evil people should not be prayed for, but that doesn't seem right and I can't remember where it was.
But I don't do it well, either, other than to ask for protection from evil and to turn evil plans back on the evil doers.
You all be safe and God bless.
Linda - I suspect we can (and should) pray for individuals while not for their works. To STxAR's point above, we should not pray for evil plans to succeed; to the contrary, we should pray that God will take the evil and turn it to good.
DeleteI do think that - were we to do this, even if imperfectly - this would make a very distinct difference between us and the world.
This one is really, really hard for me. I try to keep telling myself that it's God's job to sort it all out, but it's difficult. But the number is really low, so there's that.
ReplyDeleteJohn, if our non-scientific, probably similarly minded commenter group is any indication, it is hard for everyone.
DeleteI will also note - not as a boast, but just as a comment - this sort of thing almost is never discussed either outside of the Church or really outside of people that really believe in Christ's commands. This seems like it could be used as a point of discussion in favor of Christianity, if it were more fully manifested and seen. After all, who is crazy enough to pray for those who hate them?
I guess I don't active pray for my enemies, not that I have any, because I just assume that I may be the one in the wrong and don't have the wisdom to see that. Many of my political views have changed over the years as I have gained knowledge and wisdom or sometimes just decided that opposing something just wasn't a hill I wish to die upon. I do spend a fair amount of time trying to understand my "enemies" who believe differently than I do. Usually they misunderstand my intentions though as belittling their beliefs when I ask them why they feel a certain way.
ReplyDeleteEd - It is a note that I, too, do not have any actual "enemies" in terms of known people. That said, there are number of people that are actively at work to undermine or even destroy what I consider "normative".
DeleteDeciding what hills are worth defending is an important life skill. That said, of course one needs to have those hills or else one simply lives in a plain that is over-run not by one side by but both at regular intervals.
The idea of understanding someone's beliefs that are different than one's own is a rapidly disappearing part of American culture - in fact, I might argue that it is already gone.
Good food for thought, TB - in the post and in the comments. I'm asking myself if I have any enemies or haters. I don't think so, but I recognize in the larger world where ideas collide, those whose ideas would threaten a peaceful order of things (or more importantly, work against God's will), I suppose are "enemies" of a sort. I'm not good at praying for these either, but in recent years I've given more thought, and attempt to see people through a more Godly lens. This may land wrong as I say it, but I find myself feeling a compassion for people who are being punished for having done terrible things - especially, if these people are young - imagining that they must do these terrible things from a deeply broken place. That they have been harmed, perhaps evil was inflicted on them. I don't know what to do with those thoughts, but I wonder if the command to pray for our enemies has some root in this. We simply do not know what tortures those who hate and hurt others.
ReplyDeleteBecki - We serve a God of mercy and in that sense, it strikes me as being completely appropriate to pray for them. Mercy is indeed mercy - but in God's balance (at least as I see it), mercy and justice sit equally in the scales: thus the need for the sinless God Man who in God's mercy fulfilled God's justice.
DeleteAnd I do not think there is any reason we should no pray as we are led, unless we are praying for evil or wrong things. God speaks to each of us differently and I can only imagine He imprints different things on different people's hearts. He is, after all, the God of endless creativity and uniqueness.