Responding To Hatred With Love

Responding to Hatred with Love

[Jesus said,] “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”

Luke 6:27-28

The unthinkable happened in our community when ten people were randomly stabbed in a shopping mall by an angry young man who happens to be of Somali descent. With his motives still unclear, my community was reeling from religious and racial tensions laid bare, grappling with our collective loss of innocence, fearful that hateful rhetoric would spill into yet more senseless and random violence.

As I processed the violence that struck so close to home and the chaotic aftermath that splashed across the national news, I prayed about what my response might be, what Scripture required of me and my family. Tears lingered close to the surface, and I wrestled with Christ’s clear mandate to do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who hurt us.

After much prayer and many tears, my conclusion was this: while we should not be naive, responding with radical kindness tempered with divine wisdom is what sets Christians apart from the rest of this fear-filled world. How else do we reveal the character of Christ but through our forward-reaching actions when everyone else pulls back in hate and fear? This world desperately needs to see Jesus, and by being willing to listen, love our enemies, and pray for those who hurt us, we can be a reflection of Christ, even in the face of violence.

My small, forward step of faith in response to this violent act was to send out an e-mail to all my coworkers with a simple lunch invitation. With a Somali leader (and personal friend) serving as our guide and interpreter, we walked across the street from our law firm and into a marketplace owned, run, and frequented by our local Somali population. We went there to eat lunch together and maybe build a bridge or two. My dream is simple: I want to see people from my law firm traipsing across the busy intersection for lunch on a regular basis—a visual symbol of two cultures living fearlessly side by side.

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Take a small forward step of faith toward a real or perceived enemy.