Defectors
a world where everyone has joined in the work of tearing down the structures of evil and they are no more
1 Corinthians 15:9-10
For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me.
It is stories like Paul’s that give me hope that peace is possible. He spent the first part of his life interfering with everything the Church wanted. He was its enemy. But through encounter with the living God, he turned around and became its hardest working advocate.
In her book “How to Have an Enemy”, Rev. Melissa Florer-Bixler claims that Jesus calls us to love our enemies – which we can’t do if we pretend we don’t have them. Instead, we respect enemies for the threat they are, but teach them who they can become: the allies we desperately need. Good wins when evil structures collapse, and that collapse accelerates dramatically when their supporters repent: when they set down their role as enemy, defect, and start working twice as hard for the good guys.
Reach out to an enemy and encourage them to repent. Promise them your support once they do so, and share Jesus’ vision of the reign of God, the world where everyone has joined in the work of tearing down the structures of evil and they are no more.
— Kate Davoli
We need not have enemies if we simply see others as imperfect, just like ourselves. Repentance may work quickly in a hospital or prison, but others need to be inspired by our love and forgiveness, not by highlighting perceived flaws or blaming others. Usually, the flaws we see in others reflect what bothers us about ourselves, so we first need to remove our own mote. Perhaps we are our own worst enemy?