Loving The Most Heinous of Enemies
“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, otherwise the LORD will see and be displeased…” (Proverbs 24:17-18)
Recently I was involved in a discussion with a self-identified Christian who posted a comment related to the LGBTQ agenda being pressed during pride-week. His assertion was that he wished God would simply eliminate “all of these sexually immoral and predatory people.” He, of course, is not the first person I have seen to air this sentiment. However, him being a self-professed Christian made his comment somewhat surprising to me. The discussion caused me to reflect on other comments I have heard from Christians regarding certain immoral acts and even heinous crimes they would see eradicated through elimination of the perpetrators. Some of these acts and crimes include those committed by murderers, rapists, human traffickers and, one that seems to elicit the most thirst for justice against perpetrators, pedophiles or anyone who targets children. (This is not to insinuate that members of the LGBTQ groups are criminals or engaged in criminal activity but given that the lifestyle is a sin according to God, and the reaction of this Christian is so harsh and in the same vein as those that people have related to certain criminal acts, the conclusions arrived at are related).
Consider that even some of the most dedicated believers feel extreme frustration with God over His continued tolerance of these and other sins. Many would express a great desire for the world to be rid of anyone who professes a desire to harm or exploit children, even if it means having the justice system execute them directly. But we see that God does not do this. We know that God knows best and that His ways are not our ways but higher (Isaiah 55:8-9). The resulting cognitive dissonance causes great internal conflict and discomfort. Many feel that to wait on God’s plan is too slow and they begin to knit together their own ideas of justice, telling themselves that God must expect man to intervene even when the system fails to render the justice one expects. Yet vigilante justice never ends well. God appoints the justices and oversees the processes. Where it seemingly fails, His direction is clear: “Vengeance is mine…” (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19). This is unsatisfactory for many, so let’s take vengeful man’s proposal for God to its logical conclusion:
“I wish God would just wipe out all of these sexually immoral people, so we don’t have to worry about them influencing our kids and infiltrating our church.”
Very well. So, let’s suppose you are God for a day, and you choose this course of action! You have eradicated the sexually immoral. But wait! Suddenly EVERYONE is gone! There are a few children left but as they grow and mature they disappear as well. What is happening? Matthew 5:27-28 has happened! Who defines sexual immorality? It is more than homosexuality, pedophilia or bestiality. Any sexual sin is considered immoral and worthy of God’s punishment. So where do you, as an imperfect, fallible human, draw the line?
How about murder? All murderers have chosen to forfeit their lives. They should be wiped from the face of the earth. So, when you, as God’s stand-in, accomplish this, you once again find that there is no-one left, not even older children! What happened? Matthew 5:21-22 happened! We have all wished ill-will on someone. We have all been subject to our emotions and felt anger and even hatred. Yet this is the same as murder according to God. What about the children? People think we are born innocent, but this is not true! Children have to be taught manners and love and patience. Raw emotion is ingrained in all of us from birth. This is one of the consequences of the fall. So again, where do we draw the line? God considers abortion murder. We learn this early in the book of Exodus (21:22-25). See also Proverbs 6:16-17 and, for those who wish to excuse abortion in the case of rape, Ezekiel 18:20: “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity,…” So, in our scenario everyone who has had an abortion is wiped away as a murderer.
Can you see where the idea of removing undesirables becomes a slippery slope? Can you see why Jesus warned about judging in hypocrisy? “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” We are ALL guilty of something and, according to God, the eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, perfect and holy Creator of all things, ALL sin is equally offensive and worthy of death. Yet we also know that God would prefer to redeem EVERYONE. We cannot fathom this in the case of a child rapist. But to God that rapist is still His image-bearer and, so long as there is breath in his lungs, there is an opportunity he can be saved. For this reason God became flesh to teach us, warn us, bear our sins, suffer and die the sinner’s death in our place. He died that we may ALL have the opportunity to turn from our evil ways and save ourselves. The idea of one type of sin being worse than another is a human construct. Consider that God killed all of humanity for one couple eating the wrong fruit! It is about sin against an eternal, perfect and holy God. It is not about the TYPE of sin. It is about sin. Thankfully He loves us enough to provide a way out of eternal condemnation.
Christian, I have been just as guilty of these hateful thoughts against others at one point or another. Hate in our heart does us no good. There is no place for it in the Kingdom. God DOES have a plan and we must trust that He knows what He is doing. Be angry with the murderer. Be angry with the molester. Be angry with the sexually immoral. Be angry with the tempter or temptress. But in all cases, DO NOT SIN. Ephesians 4:26 says this very thing: “Be angry and yet do not sin;” Repent of any hatred and, as hard as it is to do in many cases, forgive. It is not for the perpetrator that you forgive. It is for YOU.