Defending God's Dwelling Place Inside Us

All Christians must grapple with the following Scripture passage at one time or another: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun to rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust” (Mk 5:45).

It just seems so unfair, even infuriating, that the bad and the unjust should receive God’s blessings. Why would God do this? For one thing, people are more likely to truly reform their lives when they are graced with unexpected kindness than with anticipated punishment. For another, we create our own experience of the world through our actions, so people who are greedy, proud, power hungry, and exploitative are creating their own cage of emptiness, isolation, and fear without any help from God or the rest of us.

By its very definition, inclusivity cannot be partial. As German theologian Dorothee Soelle wrote, “There is a temptation to affirm life only partially, for only a little way, only under certain circum-stances. He [Jesus] puts me to shame—my limited, impatient, partly superficial affirmation. He teaches me an infinite, a revolutionary ‘yes’ which doesn’t leave out anything or anybody at all.”

Etty Hillesum, who died in Auschwitz during WWII, had more reason than most to hate her enemies. Her response to her situation is instructive; instead of giving in to hatred, she wrote, “And that is all we can manage these days and also all that really matters: that we safeguard that little piece of You, God, in ourselves. And perhaps in others as well. …we must help You and defend Your dwelling place inside us to the last.”

Safeguarding that little piece of God, God’s dwelling place inside us, means rejecting hate out of the understanding that no one can be excluded from God’s love. Should we take the necessary steps to protect ourselves, others, and the earth from the actions of people who would do us harm? Absolutely. Should we fight to keep unscrupulous people from having access to positions of power? To do so is imperative. Should we hate our enemies? If we want to be children of our heavenly Father, then our answer must be a revolutionary “No.”