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A faithful presence of love in the absences of our city.

Obadiah: a Lesson in Brotherly Love

In the 2013 movie Ender’s Game, adapted from Orson Scott Card’s 1985 military sci-fi novel of the same name, we’re introduced to a brilliant young man – Ender – who’s rising quickly through the ranks in his military command training school. Unbeknownst to him, he’s being groomed as the next (and maybe only) great hope to save the human race from an assumed attack by an alien invader. These invaders were beaten back once decades prior. But military leaders now want to attempt a surprise first-strike against the aliens in an attempt to destroy them once and for all.

In training, Ender is incredibly effective at defeating his foes. However, he shows signs of emotional and psychological stress after his victories. He’s brought in for an evaluation and explains the following:

“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in the very moment when I love them”— “You beat them.” For a moment she (psychologist) was not afraid of his understanding. “No, you don’t understand. I destroy them. I make it impossible for them to ever hurt me again. I grind them until they don’t exist.”

While Ender loves the thrill of victory, it’s how he’s winning that’s starting to grind on his conscience. Put simply: You can’t love your enemy and destroy them at the same time!

God spoke a similar message through the prophet Obadiah to the people of Edom. The Edomites had rejoiced to see the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the people of Judah – a people who were, by blood, their “brothers.” Actually, Edom wasn’t content just to watch Jerusalem fall; they participated in the destruction themselves! And it was for this that Obadiah called them out. Eight times (vv. 12-14) Obadiah proclaimed, “Do not..!” to confront the various ways that they were using and abusing the people of Judah.

But while Obadiah made it clear what Edom wasn’t supposed to do, he never told them what they should do! For this we look to the New Testament and to Jesus specifically. In the New Testament we’re given the positive commands to love our brother, and our neighbor, and our enemies. That pretty much covers everybody! To understand how to love we look to Jesus Christ. Unlike Edom, Jesus didn’t stand by and watch people suffer and then see how he could profit off of them; that isn’t love. Unlike Ender, Jesus didn’t love people so that he could find the best way to destroy them. That’s not very loving at all! No! Jesus loved by giving up his life on a cross so that his brothers/sisters, his neighbors – even his enemies – could have life eternal.

Of course, we can’t give the gift of eternal life to anyone; only God can do that! But we can allow the love of Christ – and the cross of Christ – to shape our attitude and ethic toward our brother/sister, our neighbor, and even those that we have in our “enemy” category. As we are recipients of God’s love, we all have the vocation of being conduits of God’s love toward others. A gospel-shaped ethic moves us to seek the blessing of the people that are in our sphere of influence; to live and work and pray towards the promotion of their well-being! To love isn’t about what we can get, it’s about what we’re able to give for the good of another. Christian love is costly. It’s also eternally rewarding.

Who is your brother/sister? Your neighbor? Your enemy? Who is God calling you to love today?

~ Daniel Gettemy 

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