To Agape or Not to Agape—That is the Question
This is a personal reflection on faith, love, and spiritual struggle during wartime—not a political analysis.
It has been a quandary trying to figure out what to write. I know you want to know more about what is happening here in Israel, but with news updates changing daily, I’ve honestly not known what to share. The problem is, the current situation does not touch me at all—right now—but could potentially turn every life in Israel upside down.
Untouched, you say?
It may sound strange, but in many ways I’ve been singularly protected from the upheavals around me. During the Pandemic I was never in forced isolation—as an “essential worker I had a waiver to go to work every day. Then, since 2023, while I’ve been emotionally affected by the war, it too has not touched me where it hurts. Yes, I was concerned about my godchildren who were serving in the army, but the danger they faced never felt real to me. I have never been in the army (I was too old to serve when I came to Israel). While there were concerns about my own safety, they didn’t extend to anyone else. Everyone else I knew had a shelter, was close to a shelter, or, like me, was trusting the Lord for their safety.
In order to stay in touch with what was happening, I forced myself to watch the video clips coming out of Gaza and Israel. I searched for the Hamas propaganda videos to see for myself what the hostages were going through. I also followed news reports about events in Gaza and the West Bank.
Trying to understand what has been happening has been emotionally and spiritually exhausting. Add to that my commitment to teach the main meeting once a month at the Chinese Church. I was asked to teach a series I’d given several years ago on relationships for a new group of students. Revisiting that series has made me realize that, as much as I know what agape love is intellectually, I feel like Peter answering Jesus, “Lord, you know I phileo you.”
How do you live agape in a world committed to war?
Perhaps the biggest thing I’ve learned about agape these past few months is this: You can’t really agape the other when there is no contact between you and them. For me, it has become an intellectual exercise. I have caught myself wondering, if I were confronted by a terrorist intent on killing me, would I have the grace to give agape love to that person? Could I forgive them? There is the story of one survivor of September 7, who served the people coffee, as others were outside murdering her neighbors; somehow, she survived. Could I do that?
How do I move from intellectually loving those who hate me to really loving them? All I know to do is to pray for them and to ask the Lord to do something to reach their hard hearts. They are consumed in darkness.
I do know that some news I can’t bear to read anymore. Every day, I read something like, “A terrorist approached our forces deployed along the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip. In both incidents, the forces opened fire and eliminated the terrorist.”
Eliminate, a fancy word for killed, removed them from action. I catch myself wondering why the “terrorist” was approaching our forces. In one account, they actually had their hands raised—but they were still perceived as a threat—and were eliminated. I’ve heard the arguments that, yes, but they could have been disguised, they could have been suicide bombers, they could have…” And yet I can’t help but wonder, were they? Were they really that much of a threat? Couldn’t they have been injured and taken prisoner? Why shoot to kill?
I know our soldiers face split-second decisions made under impossible pressure; I can’t judge them, but the ache in my heart is real as I read these reports. I love Israel, I love my people, and yet, I can’t help asking, did so many people really have to die?
If I were a believer in Yeshua in the Israeli army, how would I respond to the threat? I wonder. Would I simply follow orders, or would I wrestle with what it means to wound rather than kill?
How does one agape their enemy?
I only know I’m called to agape
I still have a lot to learn about love—especially agape love. The only thing I am convinced of is this: my heart weeps for the deceived, hate-filled, angry, and bitter men and women who are committed to destroying Israel and her people. They are pawns in a spiritual battle that I cannot see, and that is beyond my comprehension.
Yeshua said:
43 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:43-45 (Berean Study Bible).
The agape challenge
Despite the “ceasefire,” this war is still not over. We all live in uncertain times with people becoming increasingly polarized on issues, leading to division, separation, and, here in Israel, death. As a believer in Yeshua, I am asking Him to teach me real agape love—not the intellectual understanding of it, and not the beauty of I Corinthians 13. But rather, the agape love that asks me to love as Yeshua loved, willing to give of myself, no matter the cost.
It is a dangerous prayer. But I don’t know what else to pray.
Pray for us in Israel. Pray that the Body of Messiah would be immersed into a new anointing of agape love for one another and our enemies, and that we would bring hope and light to this increasingly violent and darkened world.
Personal Update: In the midst of this angst, I’ve been greatly encouraged in the Lord to press on with my writing. There will be some big changes to my website and to how we communicate (I hope sooner rather than later). I’ll let you know more as my plans start to actualize. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.
Dvora
About the Featured Image:
Background photo: IDF Iron Dome 2021, Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit,
licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IDF_Iron_Dome_2021.jpg
This image was cropped, and text was added.
