Love is not at war.

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

Luke 6:31-32

It is tempting in a world that clearly hates Christ and what Christ’s church believes and does to want to hate back. Yet Jesus taught us to love our enemies, even the most abusive ones, and He left us an example of such love by dying for those who hated Him (Luke 6:27-36; 23:34). We must be people who model the love of Christ as our driving, highly visible, social example to a hate-filled world. We stand for loving enemies with gospel conviction. 

Yet you can point out, and rightly so, that warfare metaphors are also clearly a part of scripture. And indeed, Jesus acknowledged there are wars among nations of people, reiterating that wars are a sign of His soon return (Mark 13:7; Matthew 24:6; Luke 21:9). And the apostle Paul repeatedly calls Christians to stand for righteousness employing soldier metaphor to encourage us to do so. But even Paul’s DOMINANT message was peace, reconciliation, and the foolishness of preaching the cross and resurrection, fully expecting persecution as a result. We don’t fight what the gospel shines against at the exclusion of loving people with the gospel.

Christians cannot simultaneously hate people and adhere to the love of Christ. We can’t and we shouldn’t! I’m afraid Satan has deceived us into being so enraged at a perceived culture war (the culture has ALWAYS been at war with righteousness and the gospel), and has thus blinded us to the great need of our enemies for gospel healing! When we no longer love them, the gospel loses. We need to stop loving only those who are like us (either religiously, culturally, or politically) and give gospel truth and LOVE to those who hate us. Jesus did this for us! He commands us to do the same.