Defeating The Enemy Of Love That Holds Us Back

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

In a season that is calling for love, we must defeat the enemy of love that keeps us from loving each other.

Introduction

Love has an enemy, and we must defeat the enemy of love if we are to move forward as a community and society.  Yet, it seems that anytime love is brought up, we have a habit of stopping up our ears like we’re tired of being told to love.  Yet, we’re supposed to be God’s children, living in honor of Him, with love being the foundation of our faith.  Why is love so far away from the hearts of many Christians today?  

The Enemy of Love

Who or what is stopping neighborly love?  I know that many of us are going to think of the devil, our great adversary, but for just a moment today, let’s not use him as a scapegoat.

In my sermon, “The Moral Obligation to Love Our Neighbors,” Paul left us believers with a choice to either cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light or continue in darkness.  I want you to understand that such a choice is what reveals the enemy of love that has been present from the beginning.

In 1 John 3:10, John wrote that the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested (appear) in whether one practices righteousness by choosing to love their neighbor.  By the decision that you make in such a choice, you can either be an ally of love by being a good neighbor, or you can be an enemy of love and your neighbor. 

Will you choose to be an ally of love, and therefore an ally of your neighbor, or will you choose to be love’s biggest adversary, your neighbor’s biggest enemy?

Jesus Reveals a Great Truth About Apathy

In Luke 12, Jesus warned against blasphemy and taught about fearing the Lord, and not being afraid to confess Him before others, as the Spirit will be with us.

In Luke 12:13, while He was teaching, we are told that a man from the crowd said to Jesus, “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  Now, to me, that sounds like more of a demand than one asking a question, doesn’t it?  From this demand comes a revelation from Christ that I want us to pay close attention to because it plays a role in recognizing the enemy of love.

The revelation we are to pay attention to begins in Jesus’ response to the man’s demand.  Jesus responded, saying to the man, “Who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you (Luke 12:14)?”  

Now, I know what some of you are thinking!  You’re likely thinking to yourself that Christ is God and God judges.  So what did Jesus mean by this response?

In His first coming, Jesus did not come to judge the world.  Jesus told Nicodemus and several others that He had not come to judge, condemn, or destroy, but to save that which had been lost (Luke 9:56; 19:10; John 3:17).  In His second coming, Jesus will judge the nations as shown in Matthew 25:31-46.  

Jesus refused to step into the role of a judge in this matter because it was not His place.  Now, again, this may not sound right to some of us, but we must understand that God judges spiritual matters, not practical matters such as who inherits what.  Let us understand that God has given mankind authority to be arbiters over practical matters of family and community.

Consider that God gave the children of Israel statutes within the Mosaic Law for how they were to conduct themselves over such matters, such as an inheritance (Deut. 21:15-17).  In His earthly ministry, Jesus taught that we are to love and help others by doing what is just.  So, again, the choice falls into our hands as to whether we will do what is good and just or oppose what is good and just.

The Mindset of Love’s Adversary

I believe the brother made the demand of Jesus because it had already been judged and determined that he wasn’t the rightful heir.  Yet, he wanted a piece of the inheritance and sought to get Jesus to make a decision that wouldn’t have been lawful.  This brother, I feel, had a ‘my way or no way kind of attitude’, and had probably been stirring up strife with his brother since things weren’t going his way.

You know, many are, and have been, stirring up such strife because things don’t go the way they want them to go.  Such folks will ‘love you’ when things are going as they want, but the moment they don’t get their way, their ‘love’ goes ice cold.  Such a mindset loves only when it is convenient to love.  Loving only when it is convenient to love is not true love.  

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (1 Cor. 13:7).  Love doesn’t see one doing all of the heavy lifting and is burdened!  Love is equal and fair; where both, or a community, comes together to supply the lack of each other.  At one point, this was known, but we continue to move further away from the ideals of true love.  

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with self-care–loving and caring for yourself.  Jesus taught that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matt. 22:39).  However, there is a line that one must not cross in that self-care, becoming oblivious to the plight and needs of others.

The selfish mindset crosses over that line and turns into a narcissism (overt selfishness) that we certainly see present in today’s world.  This is a mindset that is self-centered, self-focused, and self-absorbed, blind to others.  Can such an overtly selfish, narcissistic mindset help a community thrive and prosper?  What do you think?

The Danger of the Narcissistic Mind

In Luke 12:15, Jesus shared a warning about the narcissistic mindset.  Jesus said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”  I feel it is necessary to highlight Jesus’ saying that life is more than what one possesses, especially in times like now.

Let us understand Jesus’ warning about covetousness.  Covetousness is having an inordinate desire for wealth or possessions, including even another’s possessions.  This is to say that the overtly selfish narcissists are never satisfied (content) with what they already have and gain.  This leaves them filled with envy and greed, posing a great danger to themselves and certainly to others.  

A Certain Rich Fool Presents the Danger

For one to truly understand His warning, Jesus shared the Parable of the Rich Fool to teach a profound lesson (Luke 12:16-21).

Jesus told of the ground of a certain rich man, which yielded so many crops that he ran out of room to store his crops.  So, the man thought within himself to tear down his barns and build greater barns to store his crops.  He said within himself that he would do those things so that he could say to his soul, “You have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”

In response to his thoughts, Jesus said that God said to the man, “Fool!  This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”

After speaking of God’s judgment of the man’s soul, Jesus then said, “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Meaning of the parable

So, the man Jesus spoke of was rich, but I want us to consider whether or not he was rich because of something he had done.  How he had become rich, I want you to understand, is incredibly important to the moral of this parable.

Jesus made it quite clear in Luke 12:16 that this man was rich because his ground yielded plentifully.  Now, I don’t know if this man was a farmer or if he had servants who farmed the land, but I will approach this parable both spiritually and as a gardener.

We gardeners will tell you that good ground, fertile soil, is like a pot of gold to us–it is everything!  However, something that we would point out is that having good soil is not a guarantee that crops will be plentiful.  You see, in order for a crop to be good and plentiful, more must happen, and much of it is beyond our control.

For example, having good soil doesn’t mean that all of the seeds will germinate–chances are high but not certain.  We may plant the seeds too deep or not deep enough, or the seed may not be good and won’t germinate.

Climate and temperature can also hinder or help the crop.  Some crops don’t do well in hot and humid weather, while other crops thrive in it.  Some crops don’t like to receive a lot of water, while others crave more and more water.  Moreover, pests and diseases can also hurt crop production.  

All of these conditions for a plentiful crop, we have little to no control over.  All we gardeners can really do is hope and pray that we have a good crop!  I say all of this to say that this certain man was blessed from above to have such a good crop.

Now, what have we learned and know about the blessings we receive from God?  Should we hoard the blessings that God has given to us?  The Parable of the Talents teaches us that God doesn’t give us His gifts and blessings for us to bury them  (Matt. 25:14-30).  

God blesses us so that we will be a blessing to all of those around us.  The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each of us not for our own profit but for the profit of all (1 Cor. 12:7).  This means that we must be unselfish so that we may profit everyone!

Error of the rich fool

Where do you think the rich man went wrong?  Now, to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with him wanting better storehouses for his crops.  I believe we would all agree that it was logical for him to consider expanding his storage facilities.

However, we must pay attention to his mindset because that’s where his sin was.  Look at how many times he said “I” and “I will”.  He repeatedly said “I”, which tells us that his mindset was self-centered.  Had this man built greater to store his blessings, but chose to share his blessings with others, do you think God’s judgment would have been so harsh?

As we have learned and know, true love looks outwardly, not just inwardly.  There is much suffering in this season because many today are focused only inwardly.  Many desire to fill up their storehouses, enjoying great rest, while leaving others to suffer.  

In true love, there is growth and progress–a community and people can flourish and thrive together.  The overtly selfish narcissist cannot help a community to flourish and thrive!  It should also be clear that the overtly selfish narcissist is one who not only opposes their neighbor, and neighborly.  Yes, the overtly selfish narcissist also stands against God and His desire for mankind to come together and flourish.

Steps to Defeating the Enemy of Love

God has given us the power and authority to overcome our selfishness–it’s not on God, and we must stop blaming Satan.  We can’t be like little children, saying, ‘The devil made me do it,’ when we have chosen to move wickedly.  

To defeat our selfishness, Jesus taught that one must choose between loving and serving God or mammon (worldliness).  Many are choosing mammon, and the only thing mammon is doing is causing the soul to grow weary.   

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my brother about how we, mankind, do nothing but damage our souls by being so hateful, bitter, and selfish.  For me, it is hard to hate; it requires too much effort to hate people.  

You see, what comes naturally to our soul is love because our soul is the piece of God that He breathed into mankind’s nostrils.  In its first nature, the soul desires to love, to help, support, and uplift.  This is why we are so grieved in our souls when we do wrong by others.  This is why you are filled with thoughts that can keep you up at night after you have hurt somebody.

Yet, when we love, the soul breathes easier–it is happy and rejoices because it is doing what comes naturally.  Jesus’ teachings and actions show us that it is better to give than to receive.  Not because we will receive a greater reward, but because our soul is weighed down in guilt.

So, to defeat our selfish mindset, the enemy of love, we must drown it with generosity.  The one whose soul is generous, like the generous soul of Abel, gains God’s respect–His favor.  With God’s favor, we overcome our sinful nature and can move in a love that will help a household and a community thrive.

I truly believe that neighborly love is the only way we’ll make it through this season.  Without neighborly love, a community will destroy itself from within, without the need of outside agitators.  So, let us learn to walk properly with one another, doing what is just, so that all of us can flourish and prosper.