A Doormat?

You have heard that it used to be said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you, don’t resist evil.  If a man hits your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.  If a man wants to sue you for your coat, let him have it and your cloak as well.  If anybody forces you to go a mile with him, do more – go two miles with him. Give to the man who asks anything from you, and don’t turn away from the man who wants to borrow.

Matthew 5:38-42 [Phillips]

Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look:  “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.”  Is that going to get us anywhere?  Here’s what I propose:  Don’t hit back at all.  If someone strikes you, stand there and take it.  If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, gift-wrap your best coat and make a present of it.  And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.  No more tit-for-tat stuff.  Live generously.

Matthew 5:38-42 [The Message]

I have written down this text in two of the more modern translations because this passage is really hard to swallow.  Phillips is a translation, The Message is both a translation and a paraphrase, and the message Jesus gave here is not appetizing in either case.  One could almost call this a prescription for being a doormat – or worse. 

I was raised with the concept that you treat others the way you would like to be treated.   That’s all well and good if everyone is working on the same principle.  That’s not, however, how the world works.  Most everyone is out for #1 – and I think this is one of the points that Jesus was trying to make:  Don’t engage another person in a battle of one-up-man-ship.  There are no winners in that game.

Much of life is divided into winners and losers.  There are endless games, reality shows on TV, boardroom battles and supposed friendships that pit people against each other – with only one person coming out the winner and everyone else the losers.  If you aren’t the winner, you are a weak wimp, a scab, a big L on the forehead of life.

It is actually the perpetrator – the bully - who is the weak link in the chain, and when you set your heart on retaliation, you sink to the same level.  Jesus knew that this teaching would be difficult, but he taught it anyway. What do I take from it today?  When you are faced with an adversary, do everything in your power to turn them into a friend.