Monday, May 25, 2009

Turning the Other Other Cheek

You have heard it said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. --Matthew 5:38-39

Jesus is famous for turning common sense on its ear. Most Christians have been able to quote this famous teaching since Sunday school. But have you actually walked this one out? Many have made the attempt to turn the other cheek, only to come up short. It actually requires more of us than we might think.

First, this command concerns dealing with “an evil person”. It is not enough to turn the other cheek to a person who might deserve the benefit of the doubt, but to someone who is maliciously trying to hurt you. Second, it is not enough to simply refuse to retaliate. Jesus says not even to resist a person who would attack you in this manner. This means seeing the attack coming and deciding not to defend yourself. Third, Jesus calls us to stay engaged with the evil person and offer him a shot at the undamaged part of us, in short, to consciously continue in a decision to lay down the most basic of our “rights”—the right to protect ourselves from harm.

Recent experience tells me that the real test of obedience to this command comes only after my assailant has struck the second time. Up until this point, I can walk in that self-interested kind of faith that says, “If I obey God, everything will turn out all right for me.” But when my attacker takes the opportunity to strike the cheek I offer him, then I am faced with the fact that even though I obeyed God, I got hurt—again. Now what will I do? A self-centered faith says, “This is not working. I must not be ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’, or I would not now have two swollen jaws. God certainly would not want me to stand here and be beaten.” I will at the very least withdraw in my own defense, or I may even reason that I have given the evil person more than enough grace and feel free to retaliate.

But choosing to stay engaged and still not resist means moving out of selfish motivations and totally into submission to the lordship of Jesus. At this point, my response to my assailant has little to do with what is happening to me. It is no longer between me and the one who struck me, but it is a faith issue between my Lord and myself. No longer am I guided by my emotions, nor by my reason. For my emotions will tend toward hurt, anger, even bitterness. And human reason will not accept laying down my own life for someone who intends evil toward me.

But such behavior does look like Jesus. In fact, nothing more clearly reflects the message of the cross than the radical, outlandish behavior that Jesus calls us to in this simple teaching. As Paul writes, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” All the sermons in the world cannot preach this truth more clearly than turning that other cheek—again and again.

1 comment:

Laura McCann said...

I have had to "turn the other cheek" and it is not an easy thing to do.
My stepdaughter's mother constantly attacked my husband and me during her growing up years. If ever I hated anyone in my whole life, it was this woman. She lived to make our lives miserable. For my stepdaughter's sake, we kept our mouths shut and let her rail. While venting about this woman to a wise friend. He asked if I prayed about it. Answer-yes, I prayed to be able to endure without sinning against this woman. He asked if I prayed FOR her. My jaw dropped. I couldn't imagine praying FOR this wretched woman. The prayers began with clenched teeth and jaw as I asked God to help her. But as I continued, I found that my hatred of her subsided and I actually pitied her. Knowing that misery loves company, I figured she had to be pretty miserable and I was pretty blessed. It made my last years of dealing with her more bearable and changed my attitude completely.
No, not an easy thing to do, but soooo worth the effort. The benefit of not carrying around all that hatred was a tremendous change for the better in my life.