If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple – Luke 14:26
These words of Jesus may seem harsh and a strange place to start, but this will make sense shortly. We are living in a historic time; the pace of life is getting faster and faster and a lot of change is happening. People do not like change, yet it is one constant in life.
John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.” As we look to the future, an unknown that many people worry about, one constant is the Christian church. The church’s rich tradition of walking with and beside people as they experience the joys of life as well as shared sorrow will continue. We practice the commandment, from Jesus, recorded in the gospels that ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself…’ – in fact we take that one very seriously.
One concern for me is the rise of the polarization of people in the present. And I ask what does this mean for our future? So… that scripture you are wondering about. Does it not seem harsh, divisive, in fact polarizing? It sure seems to go against what Jesus taught, “to love your neighbour.”
In fact, at face value the scripture seems hard to accept and even more impossible to reconcile to the other teachings of Jesus. It doesn’t matter what the issue is, whether politics, the pandemic, vaccines or whether the Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup. There is a polarization of viewpoints and entrenched inward looking attitudes. No thought is given to the other person’s viewpoint. What Jesus is saying in this scripture is to be aware of things that cause us to have an inward-looking point of view.
You can see the thought process of the culture of Jesus’ time; loving family is all about me… family is an extension of who I am… this means love of family is a form of self-love. Jesus is shocking in this scripture – Jesus is the master of hyperbole. He is pointing a finger to his commandment “to love your neighbour as yourself.” Instead of inward-looking we need to look outwards from polarizing self-love and personal desires to the teachings of Jesus and to glorify God!
We must be vigilant in our personal lives and within our church when we encounter polarization. We need to think about our actions, look at ourselves, as Jesus is teaching in this scripture, and evaluate whether we are loving our neighbour in our actions/our viewpoints.
All of us, whether Christian or non-Christian, have the ability to change from an inward looking perspective to an outward perspective. To “love your neighbour as yourself.”
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Ernie Naylor serves as pastor of Atwood Presbyterian Church.
