Loving the Other-ed One

I hear folks say that churches are letting the world in. They'll say something like, "That's all well and good that those from the world should come in, but the church is becoming worldly; they're letting it become worldly as a result." Of course other problems are involved in this, but what is hit at here is one of the chief problems, surely.

Yes, we must have church discipline as in Mt 18. But the clincher for me is Jesus' own activities in welcoming "sinners".

Thanks Scot, for this post, which helps us understand this point better.

Funny. I think most of us would point out what Ted just did. And it is a great point. The first thing I thought of was though was the emergent movement vs traditional modern church and and how these groups have BOTH become so good at other-ing groups of brothers and sisters.

I posted just today something that this fit very well with over at my blog.

Scot,

I have heard some use this passage as justification or a rationale for pacifism. The dominate question being "How can I love my enemy while I have a gun pointed at him? The implication is that it is impossible to do. It seems difficult at best to follow through what Jesus calls his disciples to be if one holds to the thought of securing a stable society through violent means if neccessary, or as a last resort.

Can you comment on whether or not in this passage one can appropriately apply the context of war to what Jesus was teaching? If so, why is it so? And if not, why not?

Dino,
The pacifist passage is the previous one ("eye for an eye"); the "love your enemy" only puts the issue of pacifism as a latent possibility. Not using violence, the previous passage, though is along that line.

Barb,
Who are the Sweaty Palm Sisters? The Women of Zion seem formidable to face.

it's interesting how the truth of this "love even those others" resonnates so strongly with people in this world. you don't have to be a christian to see that agape is a higher way. it's so profound and so connected to the heart of God.
i'm reminded yet again of irving greenbergs famous statement, "make no statement, theological or otherwise, that cannot be made in the presence of burning children."
so the difficulty here is actually answering this question: how does a teenager love her dad that hits her and not her brothers? how can she show love to him?
i'm convinced absolutely that 'love will never fall', it's totally true that if you throw your love at someone, even the one who hurts you, it will not fall, it will penetrate and true love thrown in such a way will not expect anything in return but will trust itself to the depths of their being. true love might make no apparent difference. it's true. and this is the complicated nature of working this out practically.
but if he's beating her, what then? Scott, what would her loving response look like?

thanks for your reply scott, but just for my own clarification here:
i take it that you're suggesting we can only correlate this text with political enemies?
in new zealand we don't have any political enemies...but i suppose it could be that the right wing christians stop demonising the left-wing government and vice versa. but that's not quite the same as the roman/greek vs jews in the 1st century.
And, i feel that this text ought to speak to the girl too, so my gut says that categorical differences of defining the enemy aren't quite enough. i'd love to believe that love can win here. and if that is so, i still don't know what that would act like.

"Well, for me you may be asking a statement with a fairly ltd aim do more than it is doing."
if you get a chance sometime to unpack this, i would appreciate it. meanwhile, justice as an extension of love is something i had not considered, though it makes sense. i shall have to chew on this some more...i love it when that happens!
thanks mate.

Guys: I think I missed getting aboard this train of thought here. Aren't "Others" only those we label as such and then can define as enemies? Or are our enemies "Others" because they hate and persecute us first? Is justice a mechanism of spreading love across a larger social spectrum? In other words, I may not be able to individually love the oppressed and needy (such as that hypothetical girl) but I may be able to express my love by seeking social justice for her and others. I don't know the answers but I'm glad for the opportunity to think about these issues and hear from other disciples of Christ.
Mike

mike,
for the record, the girl is not hypothetical.

scot,

thanks for putting me onto the justice as an extension of love idea. it makes sense and gives me good avenue for counsel.

cheers