Who Are Your Enemies?
JUSTIN CAMP
4 min read ⭑
Before going into ministry, I worked in venture capital in Silicon Valley. My father and I built a small firm and invested in over forty high-tech startups over about 12 years. When we were first getting started, we attended industry events, networking with all sorts of people — mainly to get access to the most exciting deals. At one event in Half Moon Bay, we had a list of people we wanted to connect with. On that list was a gentleman from Siemens Venture Capital, the corporate venture arm of Siemens AG, the German technology company.
We met many people over two days on the coast of Northern California. But by late afternoon of the second, we had yet to find the right opportunity to meet the guy from Siemans. As we were leaving, though, we ran into him while waiting for our cars at the front entrance to the hotel. My father and I introduced ourselves. Then I got distracted by the valet, only to return in time to hear the guy being dismissive and pretty rude to my dad. You see, while my father had spent a career as a Ph.D. technologist working with some fantastic companies, we were the new guys in VC, and apparently, in this guy’s eyes, not worth his time.
I’m protective of my dad, but the guy jumped into his car before I could react. So, I vowed to return his ill-treatment when and if I ever got the chance. And, as it turned out, I did get the chance. Years later, by which time we had established our firm a bit, the rude-to-my-dad guy had been laid off from Siemens and asked if we might get together to discuss his future. Perfect, I thought. Relishing this turning of the tables, I walked straight into my dad’s office. But when I told my dad about the request, he said, “You know, the right thing to do is to meet with him, listen well, and be as helpful as we can.” The right thing to do, my father counseled me, was to be kind.
Shoot! Argh! “You’re right,” I conceded through gritted teeth. And that’s what we did — very much against my baser instincts.
Who are your enemies? Do you have any? Who hates you? Anyone?
Many of us might answer no. We get along with pretty much everyone. We might even conclude that these words, spoken so long ago and under very different circumstances, have become a little irrelevant in our everyday lives. And we might want to just move on to the next verse.
But let’s stay here for a moment. Let’s consider whether we might actually know some people toward whom this Godly wisdom is highly relevant — and challenging. I did. I do. And more than just one guy from a German conglomerate. You see, Jesus is simply calling us to love those people in our lives who are hardest to love.
And we know people like that.
So, think for a moment. Who has mistreated you? Who has treated you carelessly? Who has let you down? Who has taken advantage of you? Who has been cruel? Someone at work? A family member? A friend? A neighbor?
“Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.” (Luke 6:27-30 MSG).
“Jesus is clear: We must treat well those who’ve treated us badly. We must help those who will never help us back. We must be generous to those who are anything but.”
Jesus is clear: We must treat well those who’ve treated us badly (Luke 6:27-29). We must help those who will never help us back (Luke 6:31-34). We must be generous to those who are anything but (Luke 6:29,30). And we must be merciful to them all (Matthew 6:14,15). And not only that; we must be merciful again and again and again (Matthew 18:21,22).
Why? Well, what Jesus is teaching us — what we must grasp and embrace — is that we don’t fight evil with evil; we fight evil with good (Romans 12:21). That’s what God always does, and our clear mission in life is to become ever more like him. Loving our “enemies,” as hard as it is, is a primary way we execute that mission.
A Note on the Recent Election
Like many of you, I’m troubled by the political division in our country. Our leaders, even everyday Americans like me, have seemingly lost the ability to engage in courteous, informed debate across political lines. Public discourse has devolved into shouting and name-calling between people who just want to vilify one another.
Consider this: Is it possible that when I asked about enemies above, your thoughts went to a particular group of folks who sit on the opposite side of the political spectrum? If so, I just want to remind us — me and you — that disagreeing with someone doesn’t make them an enemy. In the spirit of Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill or Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we must relearn how to have respectful, even friendly disagreements. Our country’s grand system of checks and balances was designed to handle precisely that kind of disagreement.
So, we need to reorient our thinking, and here’s an excellent place to start: Paul Prather, one of our favorite and most-featured writers on Rapt, wrote “Let’s Show a Little More Love,” specifically about the 2024 presidential election.
“It is impossible to pray for someone without loving him, and impossible to go on praying for him without discovering that our love for him grows and matures.” —John Stott
Think for a moment. Who is the hardest person for you to pray for right now? Got him? Got her in mind? Okay, that’s your person. Pray for them. Let God the Holy Spirit lead you in how to pray. Pray tomorrow, too. Write their name down and pray for them every day for a week, at least.
Justin Camp is the editor-in-chief of Rapt Interviews. He also created the WiRE for Men devotional and wrote the WiRE Series for Men. His writing has also been featured and seen on Charisma, Moody Radio, Focus on the Family, GOD TV, The Christian Post, Crosswalk, Belief.net, LifeWay Men and other media outlets.
