For the Love of God and Man, Enemies Included

As a teenager, I would watch Chinese kung fu movies where the main character used his martial art abilities for the good of society. You would never find him taking advantage of others. Instead, he would use his weapons, his hands and feet, only when he was confronted with evil and only as much as was necessary to restrain evil. The righteous character never showed fear in the face of evil, but had courage and self-restraint when dealing with enemies. It was usually the stubborn wickedness of the enemy that led to his own demise. The movies made me wonder how I would respond to my enemies if I were placed in a similar situation.

Have you ever considered the difference between calculated self-defense and outright retaliation? There is a big difference and our hearts need to be right with God to know the subtle motives of our heart. We need to watch our hearts and not let our idols or emotions, like fear or anger, control us when we are in the slippery slope of conflict. By nature, our hearts are deceitful and corrupt (Jeremiah 17:9)! But God gives us the Word, the Spirit, and the grace to discern our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). Especially during conflict, it is wise for us to consider if our hearts are really fulfilling God’s command to love Him above all else and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).

Charl van Wyk, a missionary in South Africa, is a great demonstration of a gospel-centered, peacemaker. In 1993, terrorists showed up at his church and opened fire. They murdered 11 and injured 58. Charl understood his duty to defend lives and opened fire on the attackers with his .38 special revolver. This caused the attackers to flee the scene, which prevented even more deaths. It was later discovered that the terrorists had planned to kill the whole congregation. Charl’s heroic actions saved lives and the congregation was grateful for a fearless leader.

But in the weeks following the attack, Charl struggled with unforgiveness in his heart. While many of his congregation had forgiven the attackers, Charl struggled with hatred and bitterness in his heart toward the terrorist attackers. Why should he forgive them if they were not repentant? But hatred destroys the holder of it. After seeking the Lord, Charl found freedom to love and forgive his enemies when he recognized how great a debt the Lord had forgiven him. God demonstrated his love for sinners by dying on the cross for their sins. Romans 5:10 explains that this demonstration occurred while we were God’s enemies! It was while we were his enemies that He loved us and reconciled us to himself by the death of his Son!

Those having been reconciled to God can not go on harboring bitterness and anger toward others. Our ability to forgive others shows whether or not we are true Christians. “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” – Matthew 6:14-15. Our attitude should be, but for the grace of God, go I (1 Corinthians 15:10)! Praise the Lord for restraining me and giving me grace! As peacemakers, we implore others to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). We call others to know the peace and forgiveness that is available to them in Christ.

Charl lived out the gospel in his actions. He felt called to take the gospel to his attackers, to show love to his enemies (Luke 6:35). This he did, and to this I say, “Wow! What a demonstration of Christ like love!” Praise the Lord for the example in his servant. If you have a few moments, check out Charl’s video testimony: