People will lie to us, cheat us, treat us badly, and disappoint us. It is not if, but when. And when they do, how are we to react?
One response that I am continually tempted to make and one that I must guard against is what might be called ’holy license’. In this response, the bad actions or attitudes of the other gives me license to come down on him or her in holy indignation and wrath. If he cheats me, then he deserves to be robbed of reputation. If she mistreats me, then I have license to mistreat her verbally or emotionally. If he does not meet my standards of morality and behavior, then I have permission to reject or to trash him in public. I confess that as a religious person my tendency is toward holy license.
The problem with holy license is twofold. First, Jesus, of all people, could have acted with holy indignation and wrath toward cheats, scoundrels, prostitutes, and thieves, and yet, he responded with overwhelming grace and love. The cheat and swindler Zaccheus, the thief on the cross, and the prostitute Mary Magdalene received grace and love from Jesus, and as a result, redemption and transformation took root in their lives. On the other hand, Jesus judged the Scribes and Pharisees for their self-righteous condemnation of these people. Jesus’ response to the marginalized, non-religious, sinners jolted and confronted the religous types with an entirely new way of treating men and women.
Second, license is predicated on the assumption that I am above cheating, lying, or moral failure. The truth is that I am not! I am a cheat and a liar. I can be a jealous, coveting, unfaithful, and selfish person. Oh, I am being transformed by God’s grace and love, but this transformation is by God’s grace and not because of my innate or natural goodness. I am the tax cheat in the tree, the thief on the cross, and the petty person passing judgment on others. The only difference is that I am on the way to being changed by Jesus’ response and, in like manner, called to live by the same response.
Jesus says, “you have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on the your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” However, religious culture says just the opposite. From every direction, I hear that I am above or better than certain kinds of people (e.g., homosexuals or the homeless). Or I am told that I should expect certain people and institutions to protect my Christian rights or my Christian way of life over against the rights and lifeways of the non-religious or Muslims. I am allowed to live within a legal and social bubble that protects me from encounters with ‘illegal aliens’. I am told to construct and maintain walls that insulate me and my family from the ‘moral degenerates’ or ‘social misfits’. I have permission to slander and verbally abuse a ‘liberal democrat’, because of his or her stance on social and moral issues. I am encouraged to use whatever powers necessary to establish a conservative, Christian culture in school, the mall, courthouse, media, and government. Religious culture grants me license to react, defend, correct, insulate … even insult. If love is prescribed, in most cases it is easy, cheap love or demeaning pity.
To the contrary – following Jesus means that I forfeit holy license and righteous indignation, my religious and cultural rights. When the world strikes me on the cheek because of my confession of Jesus, my moral choices, or my stance on abortion, I am to turn the other cheek toward them for another blow. The Jesus way means that I do not hit back or push away but reach toward and embrace in grace and love.
When I was a young man living in Sri Lanka, an elderly Christian man living in a village in the north visibly demonstrated for me the Jesus way. Because he was the only Christian in a predominately Buddhist village, he was treated poorly. In fact, he was cheated, ridiculed, and ostricized. One day after arriving back to his home from a trip to the market, he noticed that the man at the place where he bought his vegetables had given him too much money in return. My friend put down his goods and walked the mile plus back to the seller and return the excess money. The man exclaimed – “everyone here tries to cheat me out of money and you bring money back to me. Why didn’t you keep it, I would have never known.” My friend replied – “I have a master who counts my money, and he would have known.”
A friend has disappointed me. A brother is lying to me. A colleague is saying things about me that are not true. Do I live to get back at these people, or do I hope that they know my Master through my love and embrace? License or love - Jesus has liberated me to choose love; the world is liberated through my choice of love.
