It is often said that a man without any enemies says either nothing of importance or nothing of interest. At the same time, a Christian will remember from Paul: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”-- Romans 12:18. Christians are not to be molded by this world. Christ says, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” This creates an inevitable tension between the public and political desires of the Church and the greater world around us.
Our modern American Christianity has several different perspectives on addressing this problem. The popular Tim Keller methodology of winsome Christianity has had great success in drawing people into the church. Keller understood that you will draw more flies with intellectual honey than with polemic vinegar. His strategy understood that we have a pluralistic society and that Christianity was better prioritized as more of an option among many rather than something ontologically in constant tension with the world.
Of course, the deeper you get into Keller’s writings, you will see he understood this tension. He led with a charismatic and avuncular tone, perfect for a more neutral cultural relationship between the Christian kingdom and the world around it. However, cultures always float one way or the other down the river of values and belief. The world we live in today describes hatred in a way that would include the moral law of God in the realm of “hateful beliefs.” A neutral winsome nature does not necessarily have the opportunity to breach this bulwark.
The Church, at least in the Reformed Presbyterian world, still uses this winsome methodology by and large. I imagine that this will need to change as the culture becomes more hostile in both de facto and de jure manifestations of its will. If the church has no enemies because it is too friendly to the world, they are not saying anything worth contending with; in other words, the substance of its message may be lukewarm and pleasant enough for the world to accept.
However, if the church is to have enemies, it should not be from foolish speech. Some interpret the presence of any enemies as evidence of pursuing Truth. No. If we are to have enemies it is because we pursue and speak Truth regardless of the desires of the world. In the current culture, we are consumed by expressive individualism, sexual freedom, and endless distractions both of political and entertainment.
The church saying anything remotely orthodox will bother someone present who does not agree with a biblical stance; however, if what is said in church has no impact on the culture either in its essence or in the actions of its church goers, the church may as well be controlled by opposition. It will not require one to engage with existence as though those things are true beyond their own imaginations or their private vote. On the other hand, if the church preaches orthodoxy that requires a man to reject falsehoods and preach against the evils in the world, that man will certainly have enemies as will his church.
We are much too comfortable with tepid virtues and insidious vices. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.” --Matthew 5:13 ESV Lukewarm stances have no place in the church on issues that God speaks clearly on. We ought to be polemical and critical where God speaks in likewise fashion.
All of our language in condemnation of sin and vice: the child sacrifice practice of abortion, godlessness, sexual depravity, greed, or idolatry, must be couched in Gospel Truth, of which the most beautiful virtue is Love. After all, we must love our enemies. In order to love them we must have them. Jesus Christ certainly has enemies. You, me and everyone else either is still an enemy of His or once was. If you are a previous enemy of Christ, then you should know that being an enemy of the greatest Good, Truth, and Beauty will have an effect on your intellect and conscience.
If we love our enemies, then we will not tolerate the evil that destroys their souls. The false gospel of tolerance is the same spirit that invited cults of Baal, Molech, and Asherah into the spiritual lives of the Israelites. God rightly judges this as abominable. We are not God, but we can understand his character. We cannot judge as God judges, but we can act justly and address injustice. We cannot see the future as God does, but we can live and speak Truth trusting that God will bless every good endeavor that we embark upon.
We should not seek to make enemies for the sake of infamy but because the world is rife with decay and death. We will not save the world, but in being salt and light we bring regeneration to corruption and can tutor the people in this world in the rightly ordered creation. A man with no enemies is like a man who loves humanity generally. He may find that he loves the ideas of humanity, but in the practice of loving his neighbor finds his neighbor rather difficult to love at all. The enemy of the imagination is fun to destroy in pretend arguments or fights. The enemy who is also your neighbor is on the losing side of a cosmic war and has a real soul. If you love him, you must face his nature, but you also must give him a sign of Love, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.