Faith in Hostile TimesSample

Understanding Your Enemy

As adults who have learned (mostly) to regulate our behaviour and social interactions, we might not think of ourselves as having enemies. And yet the Bible has a lot to say about enemies – one in particular – and it’s helpful to explore how we might better understand the adversary we face as we bravely live out our faith in hostile times. We also need to acknowledge that, in the face of enemy opposition, Christians tend to react either by complying and compromising, or by coming out swinging just as aggressively as their opponents.

Perhaps we need to start by determining who exactly our enemy is. Paul explains that our real enemy isn’t people and their political or philosophical ideologies. Our real enemy is the devil. That means, for whichever secular narrative is a particularly hot topic in your social circles right now and whoever the apparent enemy is that you’re facing in that arena, you need to remember the driving force behind the hostility is the devil. Then, dress yourself for battle.

I used to hate God and His people. But when my life hit rock bottom, God rescued me supernaturally and undeniably, and He used His people to do it. I did nothing to invite or deserve their love, but it changed me irrevocably. I couldn’t deny that God was real, that He loved me despite who I was and what I’d done, and that He had a plan for my life. If the Christians I’d persecuted had treated me as their enemy (which they had every right to do) instead of loving me as their friend, I wouldn’t be alive today. I’m so glad they aligned themselves with Jesus, who took flak for eating with sinners and tax collectors. Of course, Jesus didn’t eat with those sinners and tax collectors just to be inclusive, tolerant, or accepting. He ate with them to call them to a changed life. His call was then, and remains today, a call to transformation, not an affirmation of sin.

So, let’s draw near to people who don’t know God. Let’s love those who definitely don’t love us. We’re not called to shrink back in fear nor shout back in anger when the enemy threatens us. Let’s listen without interrupting, so we’re able to articulate exactly what it is that our opponents believe. Let’s encourage one another to gently befriend, wherever possible, those who malign or contradict us, remembering that our real enemy isn’t the people confronting us, and that God is calling us to love them. Let’s allow God’s Spirit to move our hearts afresh with compassion for the lost.