More than 40 years ago when I was a young lad, I attended Camp Mikell in Northern Georgia -- three summers in a row. This was an Episcopalian summer camp, of which, my father thought I could do well learning more about other churches.
And I have to admit -- those summers at camp are among my most favorite and cherished memories. I did learn a lot more about Episcopalians, their church services, and what they believed in general. And we had lots of singing, with someone always playing the guitar. Yes -- "Kumbaya" was one of the songs we sang.
We called the camp leader Father Bear. I can't remember his real name, but he was the kindest person one could imagine. He was the epitome of brotherly love, which emanated throughout the whole camp, even though we were all raunchy kids.
Everyone knew I was a Mormon, and they were all okay with it. They accepted me for who I was, and included me in all their activities. And when camp was over, I would miss being with them -- wishing I could go back to all that fellowship and love.
There was a song we sang over and over, which has stuck with me my whole life: "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love." Here's a sample of this song ...
The main thing this song teaches: Am I demonstrating my church's teachings with my love? Will others see my example and want to join? As such, I strive to always show love no matter what.
Here are a couple of related scriptures.
Matthew 25:40 -- one of my favorites. It's part of the "sheep and goats" parable, which runs from verse 31 to the end of the chapter. Verse 40 says:
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
In other words, what we do unto others, we do the same to Christ. I highlight "least of these my brethren" for discussion. To whom is this referring? Is it our friends? Is it other Christians?
No: rather -- think of the lowest life person you can think of -- a sinner -- an enemy -- a rotten person. These are what we may consider to be the least of all people. Not worth our attention. But -- here Jesus is, saying that these are the people we need to be nice to. If we've done it unto these lowest life people, we have done it unto Christ.
Does this sound like a tall order? Did we understand this correctly? Well -- take a look at verse 45:
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Ooof -- this is even clearer. If we act un-nicely toward one of these lowlifes, we are likewise acting un-nicely to Christ.
In other words, Jesus is telling us: "No exceptions. You need to be nice to everyone. Period."
But what about those peeps who hurt us all the time? You know -- our actual enemies?
Uh oh -- check out Matthew 5:44.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Dang ... can't get any clearer than that. What are we supposed to do with our enemies, and those who hurt us? We're supposed to love, bless, do good, and pray for them. Note that it doesn't say we need to agree with them, but we can still be nice.
Well -- at least I try to do this, but I must admit that it is very difficult. And I see others struggling with this as well.
A large chunk of Christians, particularly those who call themselves Christian Nationalists, are identifying enemies, condemning them, and outright treating them poorly. I am often saddened by the many posts that I'm seeing from people expressing anger and/or outright hate toward certain groups of people: immigrants, LGBTQ, people of color, members of an opposite political party, people who are concerned with the environment, and so on. It's like we've forgotten how to discuss, and instead we devolve into our base instincts of fear and hate, when Christ would rather we work together and figure out mutual solutions.
And the saddest part: I have many non-Christian friends who are good people, but they tell me: "I could never be a Christian, because all I see is hate." I try to tell them that we're not all like that, but they won't have any part of it. They know we are Christians by our hate, by our hate.
So I ask: is it worth it to chase away good people from the Gospel? Is it really okay for us to be selective in whom we be nice to? In the end, we will be judged in the ways that we've interacted with other people, whether they are friends or foe, holy or sinners. Are we going to be ready when we approach the pearly gates?
I am going to continue striving to show my love for everyone, and I challenge you to do the same.
