Is It Easier for Christians in America to Love Their Enemies?

The following is a transcribed Video Q&A, so the text may not read like an edited article would. Scroll to the bottom to view this video in its entirety.

In America you see a different type of Christian than you do in other parts of the world. Especially in other parts of the world where Christians are persecuted. There is a sense in which the extremism of what they are living in has forced them to really own what Jesus says about loving their enemies and praying for people who persecute them. And we see many people who end up persecuting Christians becoming Christians just like the Apostle Paul did.

And you see that attitude reflected in the early church of how people welcomed Paul in (even though they were cautious at first). But here in America we have put so much stock in our freedom of religion, which I do think we should stand up for, but we have put so much faith and trust in freedom of religion that when it starts to be squeezed a little bit, we freak out.

I love my country. I am proud to be an American. But first and foremost I am a citizen of God’s kingdom. And I know that it is God’s kingdom that is going to endure. It is God’s kingdom that is going to push forward. And if I have my faith and trust in the kingdom of God before anywhere else then that gives me the margin to be able to be kind and compassionate to people.

If you think about what Paul did in Romans 13. He was living under the pagan emperor Nero, and what did he say? Respect your leaders. And think about after Romans 1, where Paul gets done dealing with the concept of homosexuality and everything else, what does he say at the ends of Romans 2:4? He says, “It is God’s kindness that leads people to repentance”. If God’s kindness leads people to repentance, how much more should our kindness and compassion lead people to repentance?

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