God to Christians: Love your enemies

What a refreshing picture. The prime minister of Canada rolls-up his sleeves to welcome Syrian refugees.

I could not help but be reminded of the Gospel of Matthew (25:35-40): “...for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;...” Prime minister Trudeau took in these strangers with a smile in his face.

Many of us Americans proclaim ourselves to be part of a Christian nation. But how truthful are we? The essence of Christianity is: “Love God, love your neighbor for God first loved us.”

All the talk of our love for God is meaningless unless we first love one another – and that includes our enemy. It might well sound as madness but that is part of the radical and amazing message of the gospel. Our belief in God has everything to do with our neighbor and our relationship with our fellow sisters and brothers, which includes the 1.7 billion Muslims of this world.

We cannot let some radicalized fundamentalists change our belief system. We are commanded to love our enemies. If we cannot love our enemies, we should stop calling ourselves a Christian nation.

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 9:08 AM with the headline "God to Christians: Love your enemies."