Another Way
I’ve always spoken of finding middle ground. Jesus has taught time and time again, that there is always another way. That’s what Jesus’ parable of turning the other cheek or carrying a soldier’s cloak is implying. I’ll get back to these two parables in a second. Let’s first look at the importance of our relationship with the authorities God sets upon this planet earth. God is the one who has put these rulers in place. God establishes all authority in our lives, including our government.
God’s people have found themselves under the authority of God-fearing kings and idol-worshipping kings. They have been captured, enslaved, and exiled by conquering nations. Even in Jesus’ day, believers worried their faith could be considered treason. And God was not surprised by any of it. The way I see people on the extreme opposing sides of this topic respond, you’d think God had no clue what was going on.
Psalm 22:28 says, “for dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.” This means every leader of every nation all over the world is only in charge because God allows it to be so. This points to God’s sovereignty. Time and time again Scripture points us back to His sovereignty. When we forget this it really does throw a wrench into things. We lose our peace and life is thrown into a tilt-a-whirl. God wants us to come back to the center and find his other way of living.
Paul called Christians a peculiar people, I suppose because we are supposed to stand out more than blend in, not in a weird way, but in a different worldly other way. We are to look another way. God calls us to obey the rules and regulations in the countries where we live. The Apostle Paul wrote to believers in Rome: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” Romans 13:1. This call to submit to our governing bodies was so important, it’s repeated two more times — in Titus 3:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-14.
Submitting to our governing authorities doesn’t mean we have to agree with them. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 specifically calls us to pray for “all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” But time and time again, God shows us to live another way.
The Apostle Paul is constantly getting thrown out of town after town, after town, and getting stoned repeatedly. Why? It isn’t because he was obeying all of the rules of the land. What he was doing was living another way to be faithful to the gospel. It did upset the religious and government authorities. This is what I would call a healthy tension because this other way of living also upset and ticked off Christians like John Mark who left serving with Paul because his methods were too intense for him.
The government said you had to carry a pack a mile for any Roman soldier who asks… so Jesus said to carry it further. If you carried the soldier’s gear further the soldier would be reprimanded or even wors if he allowed it, because the law forbids it. Their gear could weigh over 100lbs. Was he saying to just obey whatever the government says and get pushed around? No, that would be to contradict what Scripture says and what he said about giving to Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and to God what is God’s. That sounds like quite the balancing act but it is what we are called to do.
As for turning the other cheek, think about it, are we just to let someone slap us around for no good reason? I get that iron sharpens iron and maybe I may need some brotherly brute strength to wake me up from time to time, but that’s not what this parable is about. And no! we aren’t supposed to let any person take advantage of us, of our fears, abuse us. No, we aren’t supposed to quietly and passively allow it. There is another way Jesus taught. The left hand was used for unclean purposes, so a back-hand strike on the other for any reason, in any situation is forbidden by Hebrew law as stated in Deuteronomy 24:10–13. Jesus wasn’t teaching pacifism. He was showing us another way.
I am always going to try and seek the middle wherever possible and find another way when absolutely possible. For one, it’s my natural gravitation as a church planter, and as a pastor, to take risks to wrestle with rules, to question authority. Yes, I was quite a piece of work when I was younger. It can be good and bad if you don’t do the extra work to keep healthy tension, but I think that is what an effective church will do. It can’t be afraid of conflict or even creating it to advance the kingdom. I am not saying to break the law of the land, but I am saying that we live out God’s laws and do it with creativity, sincerity, love, and grace.
What areas of your life do you need to find another way?
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