Ancient Rules for Today’s Political Situation…

You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him.  You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.  (Leviticus 19:17-18, RSV) 

It seems like these days, there’s a new sport in our culture: mocking and trashing political leaders.  True, biting political satire has always been around, but with the advent of the Internet, it seems like that’s become a virtual Olympic event.  People feed off of one another’s snarky comments and become more and more mean-spirited.

Scripture and our religious traditions have always urged us as followers of Jesus Christ to pray for our leaders.  That requirement is often “checked off” by generic prayers at Masses and church services.  We don’t often take it to heart to do this ourselves except perhaps before elections.  At least, that’s how it is for me; I have to repeatedly remind myself to pray rather than criticize.

I recently read the Leviticus verses above and was struck by the applicability of these words to this issue today, not only in our private relationships but in the public sphere as well. 

Hatred is malice, wishing someone ill, something we’re not to do in our hearts.  This reminds me of Luke 6:45-46 where Jesus himself says that what we cherish and nurture in our hearts eventually comes out in our speech and our actions.  We’re to be on guard against this, as it’s a clear violation of the law of love.  St John writes, If anyone says, “I love God” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen…” (1 John 20-21).  Our Savior himself told us to love one another as I have loved you; his love was not rationed, reserved for the deserving.  Jesus died for all, not only those whom we appreciate or approve of. 

Reason with your brother lest you…sin.  It’s true that it’s hard if not sometimes impossible to reason with someone who is unreasonable; someone who is cemented in their thinking and totally closed to another point of view.  Ephesians 4:29-32 tells us to speak only what is good for edifying, (building up, not tearing down) as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.  In other words, don’t be “judge, jury and executioner”.  Take any opportunity that presents itself to respectfully plant a seed, and don’t be afraid to keep love as the aim of any interaction.  God’s the one who knows each one’s end, and it is he who will have the final word. It’s okay to recognize wrong; not in order to criticize, but to move us to godly actions, and prayers for the one who has participated in wrongdoing or evil.

We need to develop the virtue of temperance, growing in self-control and mastery over our passions (i.e., our knee jerk reactions, our temper).  The Holy Spirit is there to help us any time we set our will to do what is right, to obey Jesus’s command and pray for our enemies.  We can ask the Spirit to help us to remove the false boundaries that set limits to our love and instead deepen our ability to see all men through the lens of Jesus’s sacrifice for all. 

Prayer, fasting from judgement, and the sacrificial charity of blessing enemies will reap a harvest: first by enlarging our capacity to be channels of God’s life and love in this broken world, and second in the unseen spiritual realm on behalf of those who most need our support and prayers.