Love Your Enemies...What About Your Coworkers?

Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-35

The Bible is replete with the idea of love. John 4 says that describes the very nature of God as being love ("God is love"). In the two passages listed above, Jesus tells his followers to love their enemies. That doesn't seem right. Jesus, are you sure you got that right? Didn't you mean love your friends? It's pretty counter intuitive to love your enemies. And I don't think that Jesus is talking about loving them with the motivation that Paul mentions in Romans 12:20 of "heaping coals onto their heads." If that's the only motivation that gets you to show kindness to a rival, I suppose that's better than nothing. But I think, given the context of each passage, I think Jesus means to show genuine regard for your enemies. Watch out for them. Treat them, not with hostility, but with kindness. You've probably experienced a coworker or two that, while you might not use the term "enemy," they certainly weren't on the same side as you. We prefer "rival" or "competitor" in a business setting. How can you love your rivals? If a coworker is competing with you for the same promotion, how can you love him or her? Jesus says that everyone loves those who help them and are likely to love back. But Jesus demonstrated love for us, before we loved him (Romans 5: 6-8).

Perhaps one way to show love is to smile. Genuinely, not the kind of smile that says "I'm really angry on the inside." Perhaps a genuine compliment to your rival or about your rival to someone else. Maybe making sure he or she has equal access to information or to face-time with your boss. I don't think that loving your enemy means that you automatically cede the promotion to him or her. But perhaps making sure that you are judged on merits, not on any unfair advantage that tilts your way. And then, whether you get the promotion or not, be sure to be gracious in winning or in losing.

Another way to show love is forgiveness if someone wrongs you. I'll have a post in the not too distance future that focuses specifically on forgiveness. Forgiving others who cheat you, lie to you, or in any other way wrong you is a central part of turning the other cheek. Loving your enemies means not seeking revenge.

What are some other ways you can love your rivals? And what would the outcome be if you did that? I know it's tempting to say that they'd take advantage of you, and that may be very true in the short term. But what would happen long term? For the most part, Jesus never won over most of His rivals, but look at what happened because He loved them anyway.