To say that we’ve been going through a difficult time the last three months is an understatement. Back on January 22, 2020, I texted my daughter to ask her if she had heard of a virus that was spreading in China. I had just read a news report about what was happening in the Wuhan region. I never expected that COVID-19 would impact us the way that it has. We mourn all who have lost their lives to the virus, and we mourn those who have lost their jobs, businesses, and livelihoods to the quarantine. This has been and continues to be a challenge for so many people.
During the lockdown, I spent more time than usual looking at social media. One thing I noticed early on was just how angry and hateful people can be there. My timeline has been shredded over several issues, from people blaming President Trump for every COVID-19 death to arguments over whether or not we should wear masks in public and now to the tragic deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. I’m not here to debate those issues, I’m just saying that what really got to me was the meanness and vitriol and hate being spewed so easily by so many people on either side of every issue. I was saddened by how divided, and how divisive, we’ve become.
I hope we can agree that the murder of Ahmaud Arbery was tragic and that what is as bad as the original crime is the fact that the entire incident probably would have been covered up by local law enforcement if the video hadn’t gone public.
I hope we can also agree that the death of George Floyd, another unarmed black man, was also a senseless, hateful murder. Both of these deaths were so needless, and they are so heartbreaking. These are precious human beings, people who matter a great deal to God.
Now, amidst the resulting protests, some misguided people have used the protests as an excuse to willfully and hatefully destroy property and injure and kill people in their way. They have completely hijacked legitimate, good, much-needed protests and have fulfilled their aim of causing chaos and pain, spreading hate in the process.
It’s obvious that while most Americans went into quarantine, hate never did.
I’m overcome by how much hate I see. There is so much disregard for other people. There is so little love.
As Christians, how are we supposed to respond to all of this hate? I think we have three options. We can spend hours on social media arguing with people. We can stick our heads in the sand and pretend that hate, racism, and evil don’t exist. Or we can obey our Savior…and love.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he is combating false teachers who have been trying to convince the believers that they must keep all of the Old Testament laws in order to be Christians. Paul is writing to show them that this is not true, and then he tells them this…
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:13-15, bold highlights mine)
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Who is my neighbor? Go back and re-read the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), and remind yourself that your neighbor is anyone, anywhere that you can help in any way, even if he hates you and considers you to be his enemy (Matthew 5:43-48).
Those people who have lost their lives to racial violence? They were our neighbors. Those people who killed these black men? They are our neighbors. Those people peacefully protesting? Neighbors. The people who are living in a culture in which they feel oppressed just because of their skin color? Neighbors. Those people who are burning and looting and destroying and killing? Those, too, are my neighbors. The people who are opposed to everything I believe in and stand for, whose opinions make me so angry? Those are the people with whom I most struggle to love. But, yes, they’re my neighbors too.
To “love your neighbor as yourself” means to want for them the same way you want for yourself. It means that you want to make sure others have food, a home, a job, and life, the same way you want food, a home, a job, and life. It means you want justice and mercy for others the same way you want justice and mercy for yourself, and that you’re willing to fight for justice for them the say way you would fight for justice for yourself.
It’s way past time for me to ask myself, “What am I doing to show love to my neighbor?” What am I doing, what are you doing, to love other people, to serve other people, especially people who are not just like you? Specifically in this day in America, what am I doing to love, to serve, and to stand alongside people of color?
We as Christians must learn to listen to those who are hurting. We have so much to learn and to unlearn. If we don’t have an attitude of humility we are not showing love. If we want to love our black neighbors, we’re going to have to humble ourselves and admit that we don’t have all the answers and that we’ve gotten plenty of things wrong along the way. And this process is going to hurt. But Jesus never said that loving our neighbor would be easy.
If we don’t “through love serve one another” in real, tangible ways, then the words of Amos are directed to us:
“I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.” (Amos 5:21-24, NLT)
What if Christians decided to stop biting and devouring and consuming one another? What would happen if every follower of Christ in the United States started to truly love others the way we love ourselves? What if we wanted for everyone else the things we want for ourselves, and just as badly. What if we stopped spewing rhetoric and actually started listening to each other? What if every follower of Christ began showing Christ’s love to every single person with whom we come in contact?
If it seems impossible to love others the way Jesus loves, it’s because it is. Loving others is a commandment, but it’s an impossible commandment to keep – in our strength. Fortunately, God doesn’t ask us to do that.
For now, though, I know that I have a long way to go in learning to love others as myself. I don’t want to love others just so I can pat myself on the back; I want to love others in a way that truly helps them, and I’m not sure exactly how to do that. But I’m willing to learn. So I’m listening. And I’m praying. Lord, help me.