What happened to love thy neighbor?

I just finished (reluctantly, though I loved it in the end) watching a movie called Copperhead.  Abner Beech is a man living in upstate New York during the Civil War.  Abner belonged to a small political group called copperheads, sort of in the same tone that Christians were called christians at Antioch - a derogatory one.  Others saw them as traitors or snakes willing to rip the union apart.  They were against the war between the states basically because it was unconstitutional, and suffered much persecution.

Abner explains his beliefs in this clip:

(spoilers next, if you care to see the movie)

At the end of the movie, the antagonist has killed himself and his son gives the eulogy at his funeral, and it shook me to the bone.  It felt like he was speaking, not to 1864 New York, but to right now.  He calls out the town who sing hymns in church together every Sunday, but yet when someone has a difference of opinion, they call them names, they quote scripture at them, they burn their homes down.  And throughout, the son asks, what happened to love thy neighbor?

What happened to "love thy neighbor"?  Why are we content to sit in church pews spouting hate and judgement when Christ said "Do not judge, or you too will be judged"? (Mt.7:1) 
Why do we kill and destroy others, physically and spiritually, when Christ said "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."? (Mt5:9) 
Why are we so fake, complacent, ignorant, and unwilling to do anything when Paul advises us to "let love be genuine, abhor what is evil...love one another in brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor...live peaceably with all..." (Romans 12) and that "[love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth." (1Cor13:6)?

I couldn't go to church Sunday night because I was just tired.  I was... spiritually weary of it.  Sunday morning we sang a patriotic musical, and one part in particular completely broke my heart.  Within the musical was a medley of the various musical marches for each branch of the military.  After that song, there was a church wide round of applause, and you could just feel the jubilation.  This may seem perfectly acceptable, but it rocked me to my core.  My stomach turned. 

I love my church.  I really do.  They are like family to me.  It has been a very hard year for my church, and for me at my church, but believe me when I say that I love them so very much.  If I didn't, trust me, this year would have been a lot less stressful than it was, but in that moment I saw clarity, and I had to hold back tears.  I admit.  After church, I had to call my best friend and vent.  I was hurt.  I was distressed.  I was disappointed.  I was losing hope.

My church in that moment showed itself true.  When that song closed, and applause rang from the rafters, I looked around shocked.  There was more feeling, and passion in that one moment, than there hardly EVER is when we sing songs to worship God on Sunday!  My church was more excited about battle songs.  They approved of those songs more so than they approve of "Blessed be the Name" (because it repeats too much).  That song struck a chord deep with people.  I know it was an emotional moment as veterans were recognized, but yet, I can't even remember the last time that kind of emotion was stirred in people on a normal Sunday morning.

Now, I didn't start this blog to whine about church issues or even to speak about statism.  I SWEAR! In fact, when I started it I consciously thought that I did not want to mention this story!  But, I guess, this epidemic that has infected the American church manifested itself close to home this week, and... well, the pain, the sorrow, the worry brought it out. 

My church showed that it can feel, though most of the time, it feels lifeless, and it feels complacent or sometimes irritated.  We're comfortable, and do not want to be moved or changed, and if you're different or challenging we don't want you around. The American church is dying quickly because of this epidemic, but I am not dead.  Followers of Christ should be the farthest from dead-living than any human beings on the planet.

So, what happened to love thy neighbor?  The American church has done a horrible job of this.  The Chinese church is teaching Arabic to and training 1 million missionaries to go into the middle east in the next year.  What are we doing?  Are we sending missionaries to Iran?  No.  We want to send soldiers and ships to Iran.  Do you love your neighbor?  Would you have forgiven Pontius Pilate?  Or would you have hung him?  Would you have taken the whore into your home and heard her story?  Or would you have stoned her for her sexual sins?  Would you have left an unwanted child to die, because its not your problem?  Or would you have taken it in?  Are you saying "Of course, I would!  How dare you!" in your mind, but in your heart, you're really lying to yourself?  What happened to love thy neighbor?

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And a second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."  (Mat. 22:37-40)