Let's work together to be the solution
- col-dave-mast
- April 24, 2025
- 468
“You have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. For if you only love those who love you, what reward is there in that?”
Those words, spoken by Jesus Christ of Nazareth not long before being crucified on the cross, were words meant to encourage and challenge those he was speaking to during his time on Earth, but they also were words meant to be read and heard in the book of Matthew 5:43-48 for all of eternity.
Today, I sincerely believe those words are becoming a past remnant of the faithful and the unjust alike, for we live in a world, a nation and communities that are being torn in half, just as was the temple as the crucifixion was completed.
It is times like now that Christ’s words should ring in our ears the loudest, for it is now they are needed more than ever.
We live in a two-party world where the two sides have dug in their heels and decided that regardless of what happens, they will vilely and unashamedly bash the other side.
We live in a nation where people of faith on both sides of the political aisle claim faith while at the same time acting as if Christ never uttered these words at all.
People make hateful comments on social media about individuals without repercussion as they hide behind their keyboard, then claim they are doing it to honor their faith.
What example would Jesus have set if he had done that throughout his final days as his very own people turned against him?
It seems as though we have let our opinions become fact, and those “facts” are what we are going to take to our own personal crosses.
I have witnessed people of faith making incredibly harsh, painful and hateful comments all over social media about current President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden, leading officials from both sides of the political spectrum and more.
I see people of faith rationalizing their horrifying comments in the name of their own personal truths and facts that are merely opinions.
My guess is as you read these words, you are picturing those who oppose your beliefs on the other side of the political realm, and therein lies the problem.
We are so quick to judge and hate those who don’t believe like us, and we are so eager to jump on the bandwagon with those we walk in step with.
Social media has given every person their own personal soapbox with little to no consequences, and now spouting out vile, venomous comments is all the rage while we relish in the opinions of those who agree with us, the replies of those who don’t only adding to the fire of hatred and spitefulness that divides us even more.
The entire concept of “Well, I’m only fighting fire with fire” completely flies in the face of what Jesus uttered more than two millennia ago.
The problem is as I read and view such human hatred on both sides of the spectrum on social media, I can only wince in agony as I see people I know, people I respect and people who claim to be speaking from love lash out in such contempt and hatred in the name of what is right and just.
What are all these social media posts accomplishing?
They get applauded from those who are in their corner while at the same time driving a wedge farther and farther in the destruction of this wonderful nation in which we live.
It’s so easy to respond in hate, especially when we have our friends in our corner to back us up.
It’s a whole lot more difficult to dwell in the words of Christ, who implored us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Sometimes the path to unity comes with sacrifices. Sometimes it comes with compromise, the giving of a little to achieve something greater. Sometimes it comes with a cost.
However, rather than have meaningful discussions that might lead to greater comprehending, we have chosen the way of the world, the way of social media that creates an easy path to a divided world, a world where everyone is right, everyone is smarter and wiser than those they disagree with and nobody has ever made mistakes and everyone’s opinion is gospel.
And again, if you believe I’m talking about “the other side,” then you may well be part of the problem rather than the solution.
From where I’m sitting, we want to focus on the large log clogging the dam, even as we pile up toothpicks that have built a mountain of logs without realizing the damage we’ve done.