Have You Had Your Share of Contempt?
There is deep and ever-widening political division in our country. Contempt and toxicity are the rule. It reminds me of a Bible verse that says, "Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy, for we have had our fill of contempt."[1] Have you had your fill of contempt?
I’d like to direct that question to Christians in particular? According to Pew Research Center, 65% of American adults describe themselves as such.[2] Have Christians had their fill of contempt and, if so, how should they respond to this culture?
The answer is pretty simple. The greatest commandment requires us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.[3] Jesus said our neighbors include people we despise, and He commands us to, “Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”[4]
I would love to see Christians begin loving their enemies as Jesus exhorts us to, especially in the political arena. For years, I’ve been challenging my friends and anyone else I come into contact with to give this a try. I ask them to identify the most offensive person in their lives and begin serving that person without expecting or requiring anything in return. I call it the “most toxic person exercise.”
We could certainly do the same in the political realm. Perhaps there’s a politician you find particularly contemptible. One way to love that person would be to begin praying for him or her and keep doing so through the 2020 election, no matter what things they say or do. And I’m not talking about self-righteous, God-thank-you-that-I’m-not-like-this-person prayer. I’m talking about genuine, humble, empathetic, and loving prayer. As the apostle Paul admonished, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.”[5]
How about politically offensive people in your personal life, like a relative you avoid talking to at Thanksgiving dinner or a co-worker you go out of your way to avoid? I challenge you to identify one person like that and begin to serve them without any regard to how they react. As a matter of fact, you should become that much more determined to serve them and make them happy and successful if they initially react unfavorably.
If you decide to take on this challenge, please keep a few things in mind. First, remember that “the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?"[6] This applies to everybody’s heart. Your heart. At the outset, ask God to show you where you are deceived and to give you the willingness and courage to admit it and change.
Also, remember that loving someone doesn’t mean you have to agree with them on everything, and disagreeing with someone does not mean you hate them.
Finally, remember Paul’s challenge to the church at Galatia. He wrote, “you have been called to live in freedom... [not] freedom to satisfy your sinful nature... [but] freedom to serve one another in love.”[7] And as Martin Luther King said, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
We should all give this a try. Why wouldn’t we?! We’ve been driving our car for years with the engine of contempt, and it has brought us to the brink of disaster.
FOOTNOTES: [1] Psalm 123:3, NLT [2] https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/ [3] Matthew 22:37-39, NLT [4] Luke 10:29-37 and 6:27-28, NLT [5] Romans 12:9, NLT [6] Jeremiah 17:9, NLT [7] Galatians 5:13, NLT