How Do I Treat Those with Whom I Disagree?

So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. 2 Kings 6:23

When I played high school football for the Beresford Watchdogs – yes, the Watchdogs – we had our rivalries like any other high school. Though I didn’t have a lot of interaction with the opposing team’s players off the field, I knew that I disliked them. They were the enemy and it was my job to treat them as such, even when I encountered them in the community. When I got to college though, where I came face to face with my enemy, my self-generated animosity was exposed for the absurdity it was, and my hatred evaporated as I got to be friends, and later housemates, with those I’d previously considered adversaries. I realized that even if we’d been combatants on the football field, passionately fighting each other, that didn’t mean we couldn’t or shouldn’t be kind to each other off the field.

This is somewhat similar to the phenomenon that occurred in today’s passage, which tells of how Israel treated their captured Syrian troops. In the story, the Syrian king sent a raiding party into Israel to kill the prophet Elisha. Through miraculous intervention, the Syrian army was struck blind and then led by Elisha into the capital city where they were surrounded by the Israeli army. There, they were at the mercy of the Israeli king who considered slaughtering them. Elisha, however, instructed the king not to kill them, but to feed them and release them. In doing so, he showed the world that Israel followed a different path. Israel followed God.

So, how do I interact with those with whom I may have vast religious, political, and ideological differences? How do I treat those who would consider me their opponent or even enemy? There are those immigrants in my community who are here illegally or who worship a very different god than I do. Then, there are those who seem hell bent on deporting all those immigrants in a manner with which I don’t agree. These two sides appear to hate each other, and I could pick a side, or I could just consider them both enemies. Or I could follow a different path, being kind to both.

I have the luxury of writing, not as a policy maker, but as a guy who’s simply trying how to figure out how to navigate such crazy times. I’m not endorsing one political side over another. I’m simply trying to figure out how Jesus would want me to act. And I think if he were here, he’d sit down to dinner with both illegal immigrants and ICE agents, expressing love for both. Maybe he wouldn’t have them to dinner at the same time, but I believe Jesus would show the world a different path, following God instead of embracing hatred. God has yet to ask me to hate others for him. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).