In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes several bold points, including this one: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment” (Matt 5:21-22). Among the lessons that we could draw from that statement is that bigger things grow from little things – in this case being angry with your brother or sister can lead to fighting and murder – because they grow from the same root.
I couldn’t help but think of this as I see the amount of vitriol and rudeness that seems pervasive in our culture today. Little things grow into bigger things, and rude comments made online lead to angry confrontations in person which leads to actual fighting which can lead to death. It doesn’t have to go this way, but that is the natural course of things, and it sure seems as though things are trending in that direction. At this point, it seems as though folks in the media are convinced that the only thing that people want to see is more arguing, more division, more reasons why one view is the only one that is morally defensible. The more the heat is ratcheted up, the fewer offramps we will find to reduce the temperature and return to a more civil discourse. Failure to do so will only lead to violence in various forms.
How did Jesus overcome this? Well, one could argue that, since he himself was killed, he failed to overcome it. Personally, I believe that he did overcome it, and he did it by placing the focus not on the selfish position of maximizing life today, but rather on the selflessness that leads one into a right relationship with God our Father. Jesus wasn’t a doormat, for when he was struck, he demanded that his assaulter explain why he had the right to hit him. Yet at the same time, even though he had the ability to call down a heavenly army to fight on his behalf, Jesus knew that violence wasn’t going to be the answer. He told his followers to turn the other cheek, then exemplified this by going to the cross. In doing so, he provided an offramp that leads to the peace that passes all understanding.
So, am I advocating getting killed? No. However, I am advocating turning the other cheek well before it ever gets to that, and placing an emphasis on selflessness, kindness and civility long before disagreement leads to anger and violence. This doesn’t require an abandonment of our rights, but it does require a willingness to not take personal offense to everything that the world is trying to convince you to be offended by. That doesn’t guarantee that someone who disagrees with you won’t be offended by you, but if you are handling yourself with kindness and civility, that may cause them to at least pause for a moment to consider why you didn’t respond with animosity. And it may be that all it takes is that momentary pause to diffuse a situation, reducing the temperature of the encounter and providing a way for peace to prevail.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron