By Anil Netto
Is it possible to love someone who may have different values from ours? It is possible, though it could be difficult in the long run. For example, one person might be spiritual while the other, materialistic.

All the same, we are commanded to love our enemies, whose values may be in direct contradiction to ours. That doesn’t make it any easier, though.

Wouldn’t it be easier to have a close relationship with someone whose values we share? Yes, of course; if two people share the same values, then chances are, they share the same vision and it would be easier to ride the ups and downs of life together.

The same thing applies to our relationship with Jesus

We may say we love Jesus, but what if our values stand in direct contradiction with what he preached? Jesus preached love, compassion, sharing of resources, the breaking down of social and class barriers, fellowship over meals. But what if we believe in wealth acquisition, materialism, power and position? This would make the relationship difficult — full of hurdles and contradictions, which we may not even be aware of.

Take for instance a CEO who has been ruthless in accumulating wealth. He may profess to love Jesus — but for much of his waking hours, he is thinking up new ways and means to add to the wealth of the corporation. To do this, he may have to be aggressive in his business dealings and cut costs in all ways possible. He may have to turn a blind eye to pollution, to the low wages paid to his employees, and to the dismal living conditions of his migrant workers.

He may have to encourage customers to buy more even if it means depleting the world’s natural resources. What would he make of Jesus’ command to sell all that he has and follow the Master? What would he make of the Beatitude that says the meek shall inherit the earth? Would he see any contradiction between his vision of wealth accumulation — which concentrates riches in the top 10 per cent of the population — and the vision of Jesus for a more egalitarian world?

Some powerful world leaders even claim to follow Jesus but then go on to invade and occupy foreign lands to seize strategic control of their resources. Others may even justify torture and detention without trial. Worse, there are many devout Christians who would condone the actions of such powerful leaders.

We may also claim to follow Jesus but then we back-bite and run down others who are working for his kingdom. This even happens in church or during BEC meetings. Certain people, with no better work to do, even resort to writing and distributing poison-pen letters. We may claim to love Jesus, and yet we ignore him in the suffering of those who desperately need help. To assuage our conscience or present a positive image of our corporations, we may donate large amounts to charity or indulge in “corporate social responsibility”.

But then we would never dream of inviting someone from the lower income group to our own parties, or of talking to a street person or of even getting to know the office cleaner.
We may say our prayers without fail, listen to the most rousing sermons or travel great distances on pilgrimages, but then we fail to hear the silent cries of the exploited migrant workers in our neighbourhood or to see the hopelessness of children from broken homes.

If we consistently identify with the rich and the powerful while failing to empathise with the homeless and the oppressed, how can we relate to the Son of Man who had nowhere to lay his head and who spent most of the time with the destitute and the downtrodden? We may profess to love Jesus, but our actions and our opposing value system will betray us. “It is not anyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

And what is the will of God? Every compassionate act towards our suffering sisters and brothers will count. Every positive act in the service of his kingdom will make a difference. Every action against the greedy, oppressive and exploitative structures of our time will create ripples of change.

In Matthew 25, we see some examples of such acts: 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, 36 lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” 37 Then the upright will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome, lacking clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we find you sick or in prison and go to see you?” 40 And the King will answer, “In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets railed against those who paid great attention to rituals and worship but neglected justice. Over and over again, they stressed that worship without justice and compassion is worthless in the eyes of God.

If our personal values are similar to those outlined in the Beatitudes, if we can identify with the destitute, the meek, the oppressed and work for justice for all, then we would be in harmony with God’s vision for his kingdom. This was the vision that Jesus proclaimed; this was the vision that he wanted his disciples to follow — a kingdom free from greed, prejudice, injustice and destruction, a kingdom where the lowly will be raised up.