But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
— George Eliot, Middlemarch
With these words, George Eliot (pseudonym of author Mary Ann Evans) closes her 1871 novel Middlemarch. Set in a fictional “ordinary” English town, the tale chronicles the lives and events that fill up this little community: loves and hates, actions both self-sacrificing and petty, gossip, slander, and, of course, religious and political disagreements.
This final ode could apply to several characters in the tale, but it is meant to sum up the character of the primary protagonist, Dorothea Brooke. While Dorothea’s idealism may be hard for some to relate to, many of us can empathize with her desire to do good, to enact real change in her world, and her feeling of powerlessness and even righteous anger at vile people and corrupt systems. Dorothea’s primary “enemy” lives in her very home, and yet, throughout the novel, she displays Christ’s injunction to:
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:44-48 ESV).
Loving Political ‘Enemies’
Hopefully, in this political season, the term “enemy” seems a bit extreme when describing those who differ from us politically. Nevertheless, the rhetoric of our leaders and how we often engage with those who disagree with us often implies that this is the case. Very well, then. How, then, as followers of Christ, are we called on to engage with our enemies? Christ tells us we are to love them. What does love look like?
The Apostle Paul tells us that
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Perhaps we could add: it does not accuse before attempting to understand, it does not abandon relationships over differences of opinion, it does not use the shield of internet anonymity to call names instead of addressing truth, or whatever other type of infantile behavior that may be culturally normative.
Unprecedented Times, Unprecedented Measures?
We may cry, “But these are unprecedented times which call for unprecedented measures!” (likely not, there is nothing new under the sun) or “This is a time for turning tables!” (perhaps so, there is a time for every season under heaven). Yet the Apostle Peter writes to us:
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor (1 Peter 2:11-17 emphases my own).
Honor the emperor, Peter says. Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. The man who allowed Rome to burn and blamed Christians so he could, in turn, burn them. No time is unprecedented.
In times of even greater strife than our own, Peter calls for self-control. He commands that our conduct be honorable – not because others even necessarily merit that honor, but so that they may see our deeds and one day glorify God. Peter also reminds us that, until Christ returns, we are exiles and sojourners in this world.
Living ‘Incalculably Diffusive’ Lives
In seeking the welfare of our city of exile, we are called to speak truth. We are called to speak it boldly. We are called to speak it in love. We are called to speak it in a way that is honorable so that those who are perhaps our enemies will one day glorify God and become our brothers and sisters. May we endeavor to live lives in which the effect of our being on those around us is incalculably diffusive.
For we know that (we) are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that (we) may proclaim the excellencies of him who called (us) out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once (we) were not a people, but now (we) are God’s people; once (we) had not received mercy, but now (we) have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-11).
Thanks be to God.