Love your neighbor (from Derek Webb): #16 Know, then love, your enemies

July 23, 10:50 AMChristian Living ExaminerJoanne Brokaw

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Continuing our weekly "Ways To Love Your Neighbor" list, this week Christian artist Derek Webb shares some thoughts on the idea of loving your enemies.

Webb's new album, Stockholm Syndrome, doesn't come out until September, but already it's causing a stir because he tackles a variety of touchy subjects like homosexuality as well as Christian extremists like Fred Phelps, sharing what Webb says are simply his observations about the events going on around him. He also uses some curse words, which means the album will release in both clean and explicit versions, a rarity in Christian music.

Webb insists that he doesn't have an agenda he's trying to push with Stockholm Syndrome, but his thoughts and song lyrics certainly will cause listeners to think and react.

So the question I put to Derek is, given the themes on his new album, does he have any thoughts on practical ways to love your neighbor? He refers to Jesus' command in Luke 6:27, 28, which says, “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you."

"The one big obvious thing for me is not to speak judgment on other people who you don't know or are not pursing relationally," Webb says. "You know what I mean? Like, know your enemies. It's hard to love your enemies if you don't know your enemies. And you might find that when you do know your enemies, that they're not really your enemies, that maybe the secret is that you're your enemy and that your enemies are just like you. And having said that, maybe you and your enemies need exactly the same thing and you can all go there together."

You can read more "Ways To Love Your Neighbors" in these posts:

• Ways to Love Your Neighbor #1-#5
• Ways to Love Your Neighbor #6=#10
• Ways to Love Your Neighbor #11-15

You can read more about Derek Webb's Stockholm Syndrome in this post: Christian artist Derek Webb to release new album in "clean" and "explicit" versions. And you can learn more about Derek Webb on his website.

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