Coty Pinckney When asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus replied:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
How do we live out these two greatest commandments today, after the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent social upheaval?
Consider these eleven principles:
- Love your neighbor. When asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus effectively answered, “Everyone you encounter” (Luke 10:25-37). So love! Be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry” (James 1:19). We can’t love if we don’t listen. So seek out those who may see these events differently from yourself. Listen to the varied perspectives of your African-American neighbors on the killing. Listen to the perspectives of police officers and their families. Listen to others around you who are disturbed or worried or fearful. Try to understand how these different folks react – and then comfort, empathize, and bring the light of the Gospel into the situation.
- Love all your neighbors. If we are to love our neighbors, we will be deeply disturbed by the misuse of God-given authority by Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin in killing George Floyd. We will work to see that such terrible events cease occurring. We will work to end racism in all its forms. And we will be deeply disturbed by the murder of Chris Beaty, who was killed by looters in Indianapolis when he tried to stop them; by the killing of retired St Louis police captain David Dorn, who was also murdered by looters when he tried to protect a friend’s shop; by the drive-by assassination of officer Dave Patrick Underwood in Oakland; by the intentional running over in Atlanta of officer Max Brewer; by the shooting in the head of Las Vegas officer Shay Mikalonis; by the 47 homicides in Chicago alone in the 10 days after the killing of George Floyd (at least 32 of the victims were black, and none of them were killed by police. By the way, it shouldn’t matter, but in this environment perhaps it does: Chris Beaty, David Dorn, Dave Underwood, and Max Brewer are black). If we bring to a complete end the use of excessive force by police against blacks – and we should aim at that goal – we will have virtually no impact on lowering the nearly 30 percent of deaths of black men age 20-44 that result from homicide. If we are to love all our neighbors, we will love police officers and their families; we will love the families of all victims of crime; and we will not only work to end racism but also will work in other ways for a more just and righteous society.
- Love and pray for the perpetrators of evil. Our Lord commands us to love even our neighbors who are our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-48). In recent days I thank God that I have heard many prayers for George Floyd and his family; I have heard no prayers for Derek Chauvin. God would have you pray for him (as we prayed for Jahar Tsarnaev after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing).
- Don’t dehumanize your political opponents. Your political opponents are your neighbors, whom you are commanded to love. Even if they were your enemies, you would be obligated to love them, as we have seen. In these highly partisan times, both major political parties seem to be trying to rile up their base, often by “othering” and dehumanizing the most enthusiastic supporters of the other side. Made to be bearers of God’s image, all either are today or are potentially your brothers and sisters in Christ. So watch your thoughts and your language. Disagree without dehumanizing. Argue against positions, not against persons.
- Never downplay or excuse sin. Some commentators have suggested that rioting and looting are excusable because of racism. Scripture never excuses sin. Being sinned against does not give me the right to sin against another – for then I am joining my attacker in despising our holy and righteous God. Looters and rioters are breaking both of the greatest commandments. They are liable to judgment.
- Praise God for the gift of government authority. God institutes government in part to limit evil by punishing wrongdoers (Romans 13:1-6 – see this blog post). One way we love our neighbors, therefore, is by supporting government when it rightly fulfills this role and by doing our part to make it more effective. Abuse of authority by government is terrible; the murder, rape, and mayhem that result when government authority is absent is worse. If you doubt this, speak to those of us who endured the Rwandan genocide, or the marauding militias that roam around the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Indeed, even in German-controlled areas of Europe during World War II, where the extermination of Jews was official policy, a much higher percentage of Jews were killed in places where there was no effective legal system than in Germany itself (see Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder) The Apostle Paul wrote Romans 13 when ruled by a government far more unjust than ours – and yet he tells his readers to submit to the authorities (Romans 13:5). Remember: Government is a gift.
- Pray for government authorities. The Apostle commands this explicitly in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, where he draws a link between functioning government and the spread of the Gospel. We love our neighbors most effectively when we meet both their physical and spiritual needs; both can happen more effectively when government functions well. So pray for wisdom for city, state, and federal authorities; pray for our police, for protection from those who would harm them, for wisdom to know how to respond to dangerous and trying situations, and for resistance to the constant temptation to abuse their authority. Thank God for the many government leaders and police who truly desire to serve well.
- Read news accounts with discernment. Every media outlet has a perspective on events; most have an agenda or narrative they are trying to advance. Some consciously manipulate their reporting to advance that agenda; others unconsciously do so through choice of what to highlight and what to ignore or downplay. Many media outlets want you to subvert James 1:19: To be quick to listen to them, and then to be quick to speak up and to become angry about their preferred issue. Don’t fall for those tactics. We don’t love our neighbors by reacting to distorted news. Read and listen to reports from different perspectives. Know that in killings, in riots, and in war, the first several reports are usually wrong, even when no one intentionally is advancing an agenda. Make sure you are not sharing or highlighting reports that will later prove to be false. If you inadvertently do so, be sure to correct yourself when you find you were wrong.
- Use the occasion of evil acts in the news to examine your own heart. Vice President Biden said this week that “anywhere from ten to fifteen percent of the people out there … are just not very good people.” He underestimated by 85-90 percent. We know from Scripture that “there is no one righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). So don’t “virtue signal,” showing others that you are on the “right” side of a current issue, rather than on the side of those sub-human others. That is not a way to love your neighbor. Rather, know that you are just as worthy of eternal judgment as those on the “wrong side” – indeed, even as those who committed the well-known evil. So examine your heart for ways that you look down on others – whether because of race or accent or political position or social awkwardness or athletic ability or religion or age or weight. Examine your heart also to see if you are tempted to rebel against authority. Ask the Father to see if there is any grievous way in you (Psalm 139:24), to use His Word to test your thoughts and attitudes (Hebrews 4:12-13). Humble yourself before Him, confessing your sin.
- Love your neighbors who are around you. In reflecting on this terrible event, some have proposed creative, innovative changes in policing. Surely Christians should make their voices heard on such issues. Such advocacy may be one way to love our neighbors. But the primary way that you and I will love our neighbors is through personal interaction with those who are nearby. Let us love in word and in deed, providing both practical help and pointers to Christ.
- Finally: Love the Lord your God with all your heart. In such times as these, it is tempting either to sink into despair, thinking our society is a mess and there is nothing we can do to change it, or to immerse ourselves in social action either against police brutality or for law and order. As we have seen, we must love our neighbors; we must care for our cities; we should work in our individual spheres of influence and in our wider society for justice and righteousness. But we must remember: The greatest commandment is to love God – indeed, to love Him with all that we are. We must remember – He is on the throne. He loves our neighbors and our families more than we love them. He is working all things together, carrying them along to their final end when perfect justice and righteousness will be done. So pray to that end. Worship the sovereign, merciful God. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. He is our only hope – but what a hope!
May our Lord be pleased to make us, His church, more and more like Him through these trying times, as we weep with those who weep, as we love with His love – so that, confident in Him, we are as He is in this world (1 John 4:17).