Turn the other cheek? I don’t think so.
One of the things I keep hearing is that I ought to turn the other cheek when someone does me wrong, because I’m a Christian. That I ought to love a bad person and make amends for him or her, because that’s what God would do, and that’s what we’ve been told in the Bible.
Really? I don’t think so.
Only a superficial reading of the Bible, or as most Christians do, a non-reading of the Bible, coupled with what a minister or priest or preacher once said, lead to that sort of understanding.
A Christian in doubt need only consult his or her Bible to see how God deals with the wicked, in both the Old and the New Testaments. Even Jesus Christ, while on Earth, didn’t waste His time with the wicked. Look through the Gospels to see how he dealt with the pharisees and the moneychangers in the temple. And see His instructions to the disciples regarding the cities that would not listen to His message.
Why then do pastors keep clinging to the same clichés when it comes to Christian behavior? Perhaps they love the touchy-feely message of the New Testament, which would be a wrong reading of the gospels. Perhaps they’re not comfortable with judging others. Perhaps they themselves are superficial and haven’t taken the time to read through the Bible properly. Who knows… What I do know is God doesn’t waste His time with bad people. Jesus condemned their behavior constantly, berated them, judged them and warned them to change, then left them to their own devices. Remember free will? It still applies, for both good and evil.
What then of turning the other cheek and all the rest of it? Yes, we ought to, when it’s someone we love, or when it’s someone who we see is trying to lead a good life but has stumbled, someone who’s made a mistake but wants our forgiveness. Jesus constantly forgave His disciples’ shortcomings and glaring defects, because they were trying to obey Him, and He wanted to work with them. He went into Matthew’s house (the tax collector) because he wanted to be good in spite of his bad lifestyle. He associated with good people, stayed with them, spent time with them, but only tolerated the bad ones, or eliminated them from His daily walks altogether.
Some might say we don’t have His insight into the human soul, so we can’t tell who’s truly good and who’s truly bad. Perhaps, but I don’t think He’d begrudge us if we eliminated someone from our lives who is constantly gossiping about us, or making things up about us, or lying to others about us, or lying to us. And He’d definitely not mind if we had nothing more to do with someone who’s tried to cause us harm, physical or financial or some other kind. It’d be foolish of us to continue to associate with those kinds of people, both from a worldly and Godly point of view. You can keep turning the other cheek to those people, and they’ll keep on slapping you. They don’t deserve our kindness, nor our time, nor our consideration.
Keep this in mind the next time someone says you ought to turn the other cheek… And if you don’t believe me, search your Bible.
Thanks for this post, I ‘ve never thought of this like this. I totally agree with you. Once again, 1000 x thanks!
You’re welcome, Miguel.
Totally agree with you here. The apostle Paul said not to be unequally yolked to unbelievers. When someone does something wrong to you, you forgive them, i.e. turn the other cheek, even if they do it over and over again. Just because you forgive them, you can love them from a distance. They do not need to be a constant part of your life.
however, you can’t completely distance yourself from sinners altogether though, because then, where is Christs’ love for them in you? Aren’t we supposed to be a shining light on a hill to the unbelievers?
Hey Odessa, I never thought you’d find this site of mine… I agree with the first part of what you said, but disagree with the second, because I never said in the article that I distance myself from the sinners altogether. The jist of what I’m trying to say here is that we should differentiate between sinners (we’re all sinners, after all) and jackasses. I actually prefer to associate with those the church calls “sinners”, because I find that too many church-going people are pharisees. The “sinners” are generally more genuine and more helpful.
And yes, we should be an example for the “unbelievers” (although I don’t like that term, either), but let’s face it, some people are never going to learn, and they’ll never care much about our example — they’ll even try and take advantage of us, knowing how we’re likely to react to something. So for those people, it’s worth it to shut the door in their face, to ostracize them from our immediate circle of friends and family, because they don’t deserve our attention and forgiveness.
I hope this made things clearer.
thanks for this but min. farrakahn has been saying this and teaching on this for years.