NILS VON KALM reflects on Jesus’ call for unity – even those you strongly disagree with…
Melbourne, Australia
“I am convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they don’t communicate with each other, and they don’t communicate with each other because they are separated from each other” – Martin Luther King Jr
One of the things I love about the way Jesus led people is that He brought together the most motley, unlikely bunch of people and told them to be unified.
Consider the people Jesus chose to be His disciples.
ILLUSTRATION: hachiware/iStockphoto
Firstly, you had Simon the Zealot.
The Zealots were known as a group of patriots who wanted to overthrow the Romans, often with violence, including terrorism. They hated the fact that the Romans occupied their land. The Jewish historian, Josephus, says they had “an insatiable passion for liberty” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV). In extreme cases, they attacked Roman soldiers, politicians, and Jews friendly to Rome. More commonly, they burned Roman targets throughout Judea.
“Historical sources show that no-one hated the tax collectors more than the Zealots. Tax collectors were seen as complete sell-outs to the occupying Romans, while the Zealots wanted to violently overthrow the Romans. Zealots were even known for attacking, harassing and even assassinating tax collectors. Into this context, Jesus brings them into the one group and tells them to get along, be unified and love their enemies.”
Then you had Matthew, the tax collector. They were employed by Rome and were known for committing tax fraud. They were notorious for it. They did it by cheating the people around them and collecting more than they should. It’s why, when they asked John the Baptist in Luke 3:12-13 what they should do, the Baptiser told them to not collect any more than what they were owed.
Historical sources show that no-one hated the tax collectors more than the Zealots. Tax collectors were seen as complete sell-outs to the occupying Romans, while the Zealots wanted to violently overthrow the Romans. Zealots were even known for attacking, harassing and even assassinating tax collectors.
Into this context, Jesus brings them into the one group and tells them to get along, be unified and love their enemies. This is completely revolutionary and radical. It would be like Jesus calling a Hamas member to work together with a member of the right-wing nationalist Likud party in Israel. They hated each other with a passion that was explosive. To use another example, imagine a January 6-inspired Trump supporter working with a member of the Socialist Party.
I’ve been thinking about this because I was at a social gathering recently where I was part of an at-times heated conversation with some people I disagreed with. At the same time, these were people I like as friends. I have to confess that, over the years, I have been guilty of feeling very frustrated at people when they disagree with me. I’m convinced it’s largely because I live most of my life in a bubble. I do put my views in the public space for people to disagree with, but my circle of people I engage with is largely those whose worldview I agree with. When I receive pushback, I can become quite upset to the point where it affects my level of internal peace. When that happens, there is something going on inside me that I need to work on. It’s most likely a deep insecurity and self-doubt.
What I found in my recent conversation, though, as I discussed and debated with these people, was that I was able to walk away not feeling that same level of frustration. I still strongly disagree with one of those people in particular, and think his views are horribly ill-informed, but I like him as a person and am more than willing to spend more time with him.
St Paul said in I Corinthians 13 that if we have not love, we can say and do whatever we like and sound like nothing more than a clanging gong. It’s love that is what matters. How we disagree matters more than what we disagree about. That’s a strongly relevant message for all of us in our outrage culture. For instance, I would much rather have a respectful dialogue with a convinced atheist who I strongly disagree with than with another Christian who tells me I’m going to hell because I don’t believe what he or she believes about penal substitutionary atonement.
Christians don’t have a monopoly on truth. As a former pastor of mine said, all truth is God’s truth, whether it’s stated by a Christian, Muslim, socialist or Trump supporter.
True humility calls us to learn from others, no matter who they are. I think that’s part of the reason Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. Remember that Samaritans were absolutely hated by Jews. They believed the wrong things and weren’t true people of God. But Jesus said to go and be like them.
So, to illustrate the point, here’s a modern retelling of this parable:
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
A social justice activist happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side on his way to a rally in support of Palestinian freedom.
So too, a hard-right conservative evangelical, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side on his way to a prayer meeting to pray for the peace of Israel.
But a Palestinian Muslim, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man in his own car, brought him to a hotel and took care of him. The next day he took out a pile of Israeli shekels and gave them to the hotel manager. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
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How do you respond to a parable like that? How you respond says everything about how much or how little you understand Jesus.
Learning from others comes out of humility, a heart that is surrendered to Jesus and wants nothing more than to be like him. That means learning that love is more important than being right and being moralistic.
We have to learn to disagree with people and do our best to come away with the relationship still on good terms. St Paul says this in Romans 12:18. And it’s crucial to note that he says this in the context of not returning evil for evil, but returning evil with good.
There is so much polarisation in our world today. And the online world makes it easier for us to take a cowardly stance and attack from behind the safety of our keyboards. If we’re debating with someone online, always consider what we would say to them if we were with them in person. If you want to give an attacking response, consider whether or not you would say it like that to their face. If you wouldn’t, then don’t do it online.
In the end, as the singer, Jewel, says so beautifully, only kindness matters. It’s more important to be loving than to be right. We can have heated debates, but let’s do it with respect and love. We’re all biased, and we can walk away still convinced that we’re right and they’re wrong, but do it with love.
We also don’t have to always have the final say. We need to stand up for what is right, but we can’t control how another person responds. Let’s listen to people we disagree with. Let’s learn from the perspective of people we wouldn’t normally associate with.
Jesus has given us the ministry of reconciliation; He has broken down the dividing walls of hostility (Ephesians 2:14-18). We are all equal in God’s eyes. Let’s bridge the divide and communicate with each other. Let’s work together to bring the reign of God on Earth as it is in Heaven.
