The question at hand seems simple, basic, and banal even on some level. And that is certainly true as the question, ‘How do I love and not hate?’ is all of those things and more. This question and our response to it is a central theme of our walk with Christ. The reason for this is simple enough. As the single biggest hurdle humanity faces is well, other humans. How well we respond to the treatment of the ‘other’ is a vital issue. Humanity usually clears this hurdle with room to spare in good times or when the treatment from the ‘other’ is either to our liking or not of a deleterious nature.
The problem comes in when times are tough, or the treatment from the ‘other’ is not to our liking. The problem is exacerbated when those who would be ‘the enemy’ take to this role in any meaningful measure. The vast majority of humanity responds to tough times with determined tough resolve, and similarly to harsh treatment with harshness in kind. The response to ‘the enemy’ is usually much, much worse. This response is endemic to the fallen sin nature and as such is the normal inclination of humanity.
With this normative human state being understood, the problem for the Christian is much more complicated. It occurs when the individual disciple interfaces with the teaching of Jesus on this issue. Jesus contends our response should be the polar opposite of our natural inclination. He contends our response to tough times isn’t toughness, but rather generosity. He contends our response to harshness isn’t harshness in kind, but rather gentleness. He contends our response to hatred and violence is peace and love.
These contentions of Christ are so radical and so out of step with the normative state of humanity that they are nothing short of a paradigm shift. Love those that hate you. Bless those that curse you. Those two statements alone are difficult in the extreme to implement. In the heat of the moment, the struggle to respond in kind to hate filled vitriol or venomous anger is a definite internal conflict of the highest order. In my case, it nearly causes a stroke in me as I struggle to not repay evil for evil. And most of Christianity, me included, handles this conflict poorly; thereby failing the test of character. In so doing, the world sees the words of Jesus and fails to see them at work in the life of the average Christian.
This creates a fundamental disconnect between what we should aspire to be as Christians and where we currently dwell. This disconnect leads many to believe that Christians are hypocrites, espousing Jesus, but unable walk out the faith they claim to have accepted. On some level, this is true, and I am just as guilty of this as any.
The question becomes, how do I live out these commitments on this subject? How do I walk out a life characterized by love, generosity, and peace in a fallen world? How do I deny the basal instincts of my humanity and respond with the traits Jesus claims we should? What does love instead of hate look like in application? What does it amount to? Where is the entry point for a life lived like this?
It begins in the depth of relationship with Jesus. If we are only wading in this relationship in a lip service fire insurance expression of faith, then one should expect to at best only be able to respond in a wading faith fashion to these dilemmas. If our desire is to erase the hypocritical disconnect, then our relationship with Jesus must be fully immersed. It is only in doing so, that we will be able to access the love instead of hate response paradigm. It is only in allowing our walk with Jesus to transmute, transform, and transmogrify the totality of the thing we call self.
This is a tall order to be sure. It however doesn’t require harder work on our part. In fact, no amount of work on our part will ever transform us. No increase in Bible study, or devotional time, (although important to be sure), will carry out the transmutation that has to occur.
What is required is encapsulated in a single word; surrender. We need, I need, to give up and surrender. We need to realize that we can’t study long enough, can’t pray hard enough, can’t spend enough time in devotional study, or worship with enough ferocity to manage this. All those things are important, but they can’t force of their own volition the fundamental change that’s required. In short, we can’t earn enough points on our power to get this to happen. We can’t make it happen under of our own strength of will.
We have to realize that the process only starts and works when we are surrendered to it. It only works when we see this as an adjunct to the grace equation. It is only in allowing God to flow this grace into us by our surrendering, that we can be transmogrified. The element isn’t a work we can do by memorizing the principles, Bible passages, or core concepts and doing it on our own. It works only by setting aside our pride and entering the relationship with Christ in a deep and meaningful way akin to a pauper, a beggar, as one who has nothing of value to merit, to earn, or to purchase the change explicitly stated here.
In accepting this position of humble prostrate similitude, we become pliable in the master’s hands. It is only in doing so, that our fundamental core can be remade by the creator. It is only in doing so, that we can access the different instruction set that comes with this change. It is only in having our heart remade in the love relationship with our savior and Lord, that we can see the responses that are necessary in each situation. It is only from this place, that we can consistently walk the extra mile, give sacrificially of our self and life, and take the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune without responding with slings and arrows of our own. It is only in doing so that we can fulfill the purpose set within our hearts by God.
The problem with answering this question is this. This is as far as the answer can be taken realistically. The process for resolving the rest of this is individualized in nature and will take on whatever form God chooses to use for the individual in question. The God that created individualized snowflake formations is the same God, which wants to radically alter the hearts, minds, and spirits of men. God works as He wills, and according to His purposes. If it was possible to just be a better person, and love more and hate less, a dry recitation of the Bible passages, (and trust me there are many), would work to help the disciple in question. Simple inculcation of principles, concepts, and data is not enough to assist the believer in making this change. The process God is interested in here, is so much more expansive than that. It is so much more than just loving more and hating less, even from an external perspective.
It is really about taking up our cross and following him, every day, but not in the manner you might think. It is about bearing the Yoke of Christ, which Jesus himself said was light and easy, and contained the rest that our souls that we ache for. It is about being compliant with the work of the spirit in our life that spurs us on to the greater things of the spirit that God has in store for us. It is about reaching with the help of our creator for the nobler aspirations of our spirit. It is about being changed by God, and then living out that change each and every day of our lives. It isn’t easy, but it is what we’ve been called to. It is the faith that we’ve chosen to live. And it is only by allowing God to carry us that it can ever work even to the smallest degree.
I am sorry that there isn’t an easy answer to this question. I am sorry that there isn’t a secret formula to resolving the dilemma expressed in the question. I am sorry that there isn’t a short-cut to loving more and hating less. The answer is a heart fully surrendered to our maker, living out a love relationship with him. It is in the context of this relationship that we become different people. It is only in living out this commitment that the external things matter less, and the things of God matter more. It is only when we realize that loving the creation is equivalent to loving God and ourselves that we find the bridge across the chasm of the disconnect.
We need to become different people. And only God can realize this change for us.
Writer Clark D. Goble started this blog as a means to chronicle his imperfect walk with a Perfect Savior and invites you to join in on the conversation. He also invites you to check out the links to his work. Most often, Clark writes about Jesus and theology. He also enjoys writing fiction in a variety of genres.
Todd French is an information technology professional and a resident of Columbus, Ohio; where he shares a humble abode with his darling wife and beautiful daughters. His interests run the gambit from reading voraciously all forms of fiction to rooting for the Cleveland Browns.
Hi Todd,
I liked this a lot, and I thought the central idea was correct; I’m sure it has been presented to me before in other ways. I guess the problem I have is that submission to Christ, to the will of God, or however you’d like to phrase it, is such an intangible. Some people say they hear God telling them what to do, and they submit to this with little question (which has always struck me as at least mildly idiotic, no offense to anyone intended, for the Bible tells us to “test all things…”). Others of us, and I have to say I fall into this category, can usually only guess at the will of God and obey what we believe to be the right path with the information we have. The right path can often only be circumspectly identified by knowledge of Scripture and our own broken sense of righteousness. I’ve made many mistakes that began with my thinking they were the right thing to do. I was submitted to my perception of the will of God, and still made the wrong choice or choices (or so it seems to me now). I would find it useful to see you to explore the notion of submission more carefully with a mind towards the practical application for the grasping individual who is immersed in his own process of submission. I guess that’s really asking you to explore than notion of a deeper relationship with Christ. The grand concept I agree is correct; thanks for your thoughts on this topic!
- Steve
I must digress to Clark’s blog on “Does It Matter What We Believe” and say this: Most certainly what we believe is key to everywhere else that our Christian walk will take us. If we don’t believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one and that they are real, then nothing else that we experience in our walk through life will have much bearing. It’s sad to look at the statistics on what everyone believes to be real and true, but we can’t let mere statistics affect OUR walk with Jesus in our attempt to be Christ like in all that we do.
Now on to what you had to say Todd. Our experiences in living our life along side Jesus MUST be done with a heart that is totally surrendered to God. Unfortunately whether a new christian or an old one, doing this as you said is the task that usually gets in our way of actually being like Christ. Having been a christian for the better part of three decades has left me bewildered and confused at times. To totally submit to God so that we might experience that true and total relationship with all that God has to offer can be an insurmountable obstacle in front of us.
My experience has been when I’m at my lowest point, then my relationship with God is at it’s best rather than when I’ve experienced the good times in life. Now I’m not saying that I haven’t had a good relationship when life has been good, but rather that God can generally affect us in a more positive way when we need him the most.
As you’ve realized that SURRENDER is the key to our relationship with God, how might we maintain that relationship with Him when we experience good things in life? I’ve struggled many times to try and understand just what God would have me do in this walk with Him, but unfortunately I’ve failed Him much more than I’d like to admit.
As you have stated, our submission to His will can be and usually is a struggle because we don’t have the mind of Christ even though we like to think that we’re Christ like in our behaviour and attitudes.
I’ve found that continued reflection and comparison to Christ and His actions is the best way to understand how He would have us live our lives. Although we are affected by tv, radio, newspapers and the world in general to shape our views on what is happening in life, we can’t allow ourselves to shape our lifes around those things. While we try to walk with Jesus, we can’t accept the behavior and attitudes that are affected by the world. We must stay focused on Christ regardless of the consequences to us personally.
While you admit there is no easy answer to the problem of SURRENDER and SUBMISSION to God we must continue to be diligent in our attempt to do so. Continued exposure to the world and it’s effects on us can lead to our complete downfall.
Thanks for your reflection on “Questions of Faith”, for faith in God is also key to a positive relationship with Him.