Gabriel Chan outlines his philosophy of life.
I waved to my neighbor across the road. “Hello, I’m Gabe.” “Mike,” he laughed and called back. During the strange days of the first national Covid-19 blockade, it was the fourth time we left the front door at the same time and took the children to school. The school reopened, but adults were still encouraged to work from home. We hadn’t seen our neighbors yet, as we moved in three weeks before the blockade. it was cool. Other people. A few weeks later, I asked, “Do you want to walk around the reserve? You have to step in.” Our social calendar? empty. Tomorrow’s lunch time?Sweet ace
After about 100 meters uphill and already out of breath, “Mike, what do you do?” “I have special education and am innovating ways to support learning with technology.” Great. answer. What a rewarding job! “YTu?” It’s a mandatory reply, but the answer can kill the conversation. From time to time, I inspire people, foster relationships, and give wise answers about social justice. Not this time. “I’m a minister.” “Cool! (3 seconds rest). Well, I think everyone can believe what they want. What do you think about it?” I smiled. “Everything good, I hear it a lot.” We went on to talk about the mental health experience we shared about being male and being blocked. We both experienced the challenge of motivating, gaining weight and having fun with our children when we didn’t feel great about ourselves. The blockade was hard for all of us. Just talking and joking made me healthy.
We were far beyond talking about the weather, so I immediately asked, “So Mike, what is your philosophy of life at that time?” “I believe in loving people, guys.” “Oh, what does it look like?” “Oh, you know, doing good things for others. “Who are the others?” “Everyone, everyone. Even my enemies.” “Oh, you’re a Christian like me!” He suddenly stopped and smiled at me sideways. “No, why do you say that?”
“Well, Jesus was the first person in history to teach people to’love your enemies’, so you sounded like one of his disciples.” “I didn’t know that man … “Cool” He suddenly thought he was wrestling with whether being a Christian was really good.
I have a lot of conversations of this kind. It is a hallmark of Judaism and Christian heritage and culture that swims in education, but people claim the origin of their philosophies and ideas under modern expressive individualism.
In the history of ideas, Jesus’ intellectual property is: “But listen, do good to those who love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6: 27-28 ESV).
Immediately before Jesus’ “turning the other cheek” teaching, Jesus’ best expression of love inspires and challenges humans around the world. In a sense, someone disappoints or uses us, talks badly about us, betrays our trust, is totally rude, physically or emotionally abused, or wages some kind of war. Against us who are plagued by the mystery of this call to love someone when they do. The dignity of living from our values, regardless of the treatment of others, is a noble endeavor to be celebrated. I’m not saying that we should accept abuse for love. It’s another conversation. But whenever we think of “loving your enemies,” the reference belongs to Jesus.
His thoughts. It’s not ours. You cannot claim it independently with the words “I think” or “I feel”. In order for us to be intellectually and legally consistent, we must say, “Jesus taught, love your enemies.”
In a broader part of Jesus’ love teaching, he not only summarized his thoughts, but also said, “This is my commandment and you love each other as I have loved you. That is, there is no better in greater love, someone abandons his life for his friends “(John 15: 12-13ESV). Love looks like sacrificial service in the context of connection.
And finally, Jesus went on to say: His love is greater than any experience we experience about Christian judgment. If you are wondering if someone loves you, Jesus showed his love in real-life practical words. Jesus Christ loves you. He died for you so that you could experience the love and forgiveness of his father in a meaningful way. Worth to experience. Father’s love was so powerful that he raised Jesus from the dead!
If you’ve ever wondered what your loved ones should look like in our myriad perspectives, it looks like sacrificial love. Let us be wrong, serve and love those who hate us.
Mike and I follow the walk.
–Gabriel Chan is a senior leader in Dunedin’s Elim Church.