When I look into the face of my enemy, I see...

This election year, again, we are being tempted to move further into an 'us vs. them' mentality.  Many fight this urge, but at the same time we know that we are drawn to sides. Once these sides have been established, it is natural for individuals and groups to defend them. Often at all costs.

We make statements in attempt to get the attention of others in hopes of drawing them towards us; to see our position to be the most rational and correct. We vilify candidates,  groups of people, countries, parties, and individuals. We dismiss the idea that us means everyone, and instead 'us' means those who look, talk, and think like us. Then in quick order, we have created a enemy. And that enemy has a face...So when I look into the face of my enemy, I see their worst. I see another person as 'the devil' or can even label them as some sort pure evil.When I look into the face of my enemy, I see a caricature of the person. I refuse to see them as a complex person, wrestling through life the same as I do.Let's be very clear, people do horrible things and people are responsible for their words and actions - as these are byproducts of what has been at work within them for days, months, and even years.

A passage from Luke reminds us of this:

"A person full of goodness in his heart produces good things; a person with an evil reservoir in his heart pours out evil things. The heart overflows in the words a person speaks; your words reveal what's within your heart."   - Luke 6:44-46 - The Voice Translation

So we are accountable for our words and actions but that doesn't change this simple fact: every single person is made in the image of God.

Every.

Single.

Person. 

You, me, Trump, the Clintons, Obama, Osama, and yo' mama. All of them. Heschel writes, "The degree to which one is sensitive to other people's suffering, to other (people's) humanity, is the index of one's own humanity."  So when we vilify, in many ways we are seeing a reflection of how we view ourselves. Or you could say: When I look into the face of my enemy, I see the things I hate about myself. I see the things I try to hide from the world. I judge and compare my enemy with my best qualities to their worst. Or even, when I look into the face of my enemy, I see my fears. I see my insecurities, I see the ways I have not grown. I see my bias, I see the way I reject the image of God, the Imago Dei, in myself and in another. As followers of Christ, we are invited to look at the 'others', the enemies, the outcasts, and the overlooked and see ourselves. To see them as our family; to see them as the person and people we love; and to value the Imago Dei found within us all. And we when do that, something changes in us and in the world. A little more of the Kingdom crashes in.

So when you look into the face of your enemy, what do you see? 

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*The song "Brother" by The Brilliance helped to frame this post.