Have You Hugged Your Worst Enemy Today?

Mat 5:47 And if you embrace only your brothers, what do you do better than others? Do not even the tax-collectors do this?

How often do we hug those who hate us? Today, we ask, "Have you hugged your kids today?" Christ sets the bar a little higher, asking,"Have you hugged your worst enemy today?" Not only is this psychologically difficult, but it is a physically challenge as well. Our enemies don't trust us to get that close. Hugging our children is natural and effortless. Hugging enemies is clearly something more challenging.

Christ teaches us that we must deal with evil on a personal level. You cannot get more personal than hugging someone. Our reality is physical. Hatred is a creature of the mind. A hug gets us past our mental constuctions and back to what is real.

In Greek, the word translated here as "embrace" is aspazomai , which describes the hug that we give someone when we greet them or separate from them. It is not only a hug, but a token of affection. It is sometimes translated as "welcome" or "salute" but the idea is really hugging one another, physically feeling their closeness and warmth.

Today, a lot of churches have a hugging session toward the end of their services. I personally have never been that comfortable hugging strangers. It feels at once meaningless and gratuitous. However, hugging an enemy isn't meaningless. It is intense. We have a close, personal relationship with our enemies. Hugging our enemies puts us back in touch with the physical humanity that we share with them. The difference between this religious practice and Christ's words shows us how much more demanding Christ is that Christian religions.