Be indiscriminate in loving other people.

Matthew 5.44-48, Luke 6.31-36.

Probably the most important trait Jesus wants to see in his followers is grace, which Evangelicals tend to describe as “unmerited favor,” but I define as “God’s generous, forgiving, kind, favorable attitude towards his people.”

Because the attitude is a significant part of it. You can grudgingly or apathetically grant unmerited favor to people, as you might’ve seen clerks or bureaucrats do when you beg ’em for stuff. Sometimes they don’t wanna, but they realize it’s in their best interests if they do it, so they roll their eyes, and do it. And sometimes we appreciate it… and sometimes not, ’cause we think we do merit some favor out of them.

But God’s attitude isn’t, “Ugh, you humans; here.” It’s love. He’s eager to give us his kingdom. He’s happy to. Lk 12.32 He wants us in it! Including even the ungrateful, selfish, most obnoxious Christians you can think of. Or pagans.

And Jesus wants us to share this attitude, which is why in his Sermon on the Mount and Sermon on the Plain, he tells us his followers to love our enemies. He doesn’t have to order us to love our friends; we already do. But now we gotta love the people we don’t wanna love. Because God loves ’em—and if we wanna be legitimate children of God, we gotta start acting like our Father for once.

Matthew 5.44-48 KWL

44“I tell you:

Love your enemies!

Pray over your persecutors.

45This way, you might become children

of your Father who is in the heavens,

since he raises his sun over evil and good,

and rain over righteous and unrighteous.

46For when you love those who love you,

should you expect compensation for that?

Don’t taxmen do the very same thing?

47When you greet only your family members,

what more do you do than others?

Don’t pagans do the very same thing?

48So you all will be consistent,

just like your heavenly Father is consistent.”

Luke 6.31-37 KWL

32“Same as you want

that people might do for you,

do likewise for them.

33If you love those who love you,

in what way is this grace from you?

For sinners also love those who love them.

34When you do good for those who do good for you,

in what way is this grace from you?

{For} sinners do the same.

35When you lend to those

from whom you expect similar treatment,

in what way is this grace from you?

Sinners lend to sinners

so they might receive the same treatment.

36Regardless, love your enemies.

Do good, and lend expecting nothing.

Your compensation will be abundant.

You’ll be children of the Highest,

for he is kind to the ungrateful and evil.

37Be compassionate

just like your Father is compassionate.”

Be perfect?

Jesus’s last sentence in the Matthew passage tends to be translated like so:

Matthew 5.48 KJV

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

As a result, it’s taken out of context all the time. I admit I used to do this a lot. I’d be teaching kids about goodness, and that Jesus doesn’t want us to slack on God’s commands just because he forgives all. Don’t start taking God’s grace for granted. And of course one of my proof texts would be Matthew 5.48. “Jesus said ‘Be perfect like your Father in heaven,’ and he wouldn’t order us to do that if it was impossible.”

Of course they, and I, presumed it meant “Don’t sin, like your heavenly Father doesn’t sin.” And nope, that’s not at all what Jesus means. But plenty of Christians still interpret it that way.

Now if you wanna teach Christians we shoudn’t sin, there’s plenty of verses which back up that idea. God is entirely anti-sin. Read the Prophets sometime. Most of the LORD’s direct statements in those books are objecting to his awful people, who don’t know him and regularly offend him. Jesus himself told people to go sin no more. Jn 5.14 So did his apostles. 1Jn 2.1

But this verse isn’t that. Its context—if you’ve been reading—is about loving our friends and enemies the same. Context changes the definition of τέλειοι/téleie, “whole”—the word the KJV and subsequent bible translations render “perfect.”

The question we oughta ask, is perfect how? There’s more than one kind of perfection. There’s sinlessness of course—but read the context; Jesus isn’t talking about sinlessness. There’s precision, like getting a perfect gymnastic score, or getting 100 on a math test, or hitting dead center on a dartboard. For that matter, there are forms of perfection which aren’t absolute, like “She speaks perfect Arabic,” or “The car’s in perfect condition—and only has 5,000 miles on it.”

In context, what’s Jesus saying? He tells us to love neighbors and enemies alike. Not love friends but not enemies. Everyone does that. Taxmen and pagans and sinners do that. Why should we expect any special consideration for our Father when we’re doing the very same thing everybody else does?

Instead, we’re to do as the Father does, and love people across the board. Friends… and enemies. Good people… and terrible people. Those who can do us favors when we lend ’em money, and those who can’t and won’t. We’re to be gracious to all—and it’s not about who can benefit us in return! Forget reciprocity. Do grace.

In that context, téleie means “indiscriminate,” or “egalitarian”; I went with “consistent,” though I’ve gone with the other words in different lessons. God wants us to be that kind of perfect—grace to all, not just favorites.

Because why should we expect God to reward us for reciprocity? Three times in Luke, Jesus says, “In what way is this grace from you?” Lk 6.33-35 You do for others who already do for you, or you do for others whom you expect to do for you, ’cause now they’re culturally obligated. (Although don’t overdo it, or they’ll resent you—like if you give ’em a car for Christmas, and there’s no way they can afford a car, and refuse the gift because “it’s too much.”) The thing about reciprocity is it’s inherently selfish, because it’s often about doing no more for others than we feel we’re obligated. It’s not love. Passes for it all the time, though.

And Jesus doesn’t consider reciprocity to be love either. If we expect a head-pat from the Father over it, Jesus points out people who avoid the Father do that stuff too. God’s kids are meant to act like he does. Grace to everybody, including people who can’t pay us back. Because we don’t care whether they pay us back. We’re only doing it out of love.