Recently I’ve been seeing a certain idea repeatedly expressed, particularly in regard to politics: it is loving to your enemies to defeat them and make sure they never have the opportunity to sin or hold power again.1 I see this sentiment particularly espoused from certain segments of the political right, and I think it’s worth addressing. On the one hand, I sympathize and recognize the logic at work here. It is a great good to end sin, to stop sin. And despite some evangelicals’ hesitation to wield cultural or political power, I believe that Christians have a responsibility to love their neighbors by working for justice in whatever sphere of influence they find themselves. And when you wield influence of any kind, you run against others of different perspectives who will resist your efforts for justice. Call them “opponents” or “enemies,” they resist the work you are doing to bring about shalom. This is true whether you work on a school board, as a governor, or a police officer. So the dynamic of wielding power for justice and coming in conflict with opposition is simply reality until Christ’s Second Coming.
The question is, what do we do, how do we respond, what do we desire, when this inevitable conflict arises? Should we primarily desire to defeat our enemies or to call our enemies to repent?
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