It's Complicated

Readers of my blog and the comments might have caught an anynonomous post the other day on the entry entitled "Why I Will not Celebrate the Death of bin Laden."

The comment read, "I've read other posts online that those of us who say "love your enemy" are arrogant. We quote Jesus Christ. Is Christ then arrogant as well? They say let us have our vengence because it's complicated."

The other post being referenced is a blog entry on the website http://www.livinglutheran.com/ :  The website used my blog and another Lutheran pastor's blog to offer a comparison.

http://www.livinglutheran.com/blog/2011/05/on-celebrating-the-death-of-our-enemy.html

I'll admit, when I first read Pastor Joelle's blog my initial reaction was one of anger.  I had it for about six seconds before I took a deep breath and chuckled.  Yep.  I laughed.  Why?  Well, it's complicated, but I'll put it out there straight foward.

1. My initial burst of anger came from being called arrogant in that I am one who is spouting off "Love your enemies."  This anger came essentially from being called a name.  Fortunately, I have grown a pretty thick skin when it comes to name calling.  Just about anyone with a German or Czech name who grows up in South Texas can have their name mispronounced on a regular basis.  In my case, the mispronunciation was not flattering.  Haug somehow easily rolls off the tongue as Hog.  Imagine the teacher in elementary school mispronouncing your name every year and having your classmates laugh at you each and every time.  Furthermore, those same kids know a very easy way to insult you, and they used it quite often.  Frankly, it ticked me off, and it hurt me at the time.  But through the encouraging words of my parents and the passage of time, I have gotten to the point where it doesn't bother me too much to be called names.  There is usually a little burst of anger and then a sharp reversal to the point at which I just don't give a d@mn.  Call me what you will, I'm secure enough in my own self and ability to be thwarted by what you call me.  Instead of attacking me with names, attack my ideas.  Then, we might have a conversation.

2. The other reason I chuckled is because I do the exact same thing when it comes to faith and the interpretation of the Bible.  Yep.  I'm being totally and completely honest, and I think if every Christian actually took the time to examine themselves, they would find they do so as well.  How so?

Well, let's just take one small example of Jesus' teachings.  Here's a good one placed in the context of the entire teaching.  Please note the bold  and underlined text:

²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, ²⁶“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. ³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. ³⁴“Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? ³⁵It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”   --Luke 14:25-35

I do not know of a single Christian in my realm of influence who follows this teaching of Jesus.  I know I certainly do not.  Do I believe Jesus meant it when He said it?  You bet.  But I don't do it.  Why?

It's complicated.

You see, I am married.  I have three children.  I need a home to provide them shelter.  I need vehicles to transport them to school and bring groceries home.  I need to buy them clothing so they do not run around naked.  I need clothing myself because not too many people are going to take a naked pastor seriously in this day and age.  I need a car to visit the sick and shut in of my congregation.  I need gardening tools to grow vegetables for my family.  I need refrigerators and freezers to preserve food and insure it doesn't go bad.  Oh, and the list goes on.

It's complicated.

I need such things.

I need possessions.

But....

Jesus says...

Give them up or you can't be His disciple.

While I don't approve of Pastor Joelle calling myself or anyone else arrogant in her blog, her point does stand.

And I'll quote, "...they need to show a little love and forgiveness for those sinners who relish a little revenge."

Yep.  We all need to show a little love and forgiveness to everyone because God shows it to us.  None of us follow the Law completely.  We like to make it complicated.  Even when it isn't.  Even when Jesus' teachings are straightforward and easy to understand--we still don't do them.

So, hopefully, when I and others are saying, "Love your enemies..."

And when we read that we are supposed to give up all our possessions...

And when we see others sinning and breaking God's law...

We can be humble knowing we are right along there with everyone else.

In this complicated business we call life.