Today’s post has more questions than answers, but since this blog is “various stuff” from my life, that’s OK, because I certainly don’t have all the answers. There is a boy who, along with me, wishes we had an answer to this one. We are searching for it together. Perhaps that is enough reason for the question.
To make what could be a very long story short, I submit simply the following:
There is a bully at school, who will ambush on the walk home, taking, breaking, spitting, pushing, hurting . . .
There is a boy who is hurt, and very tired of it.
There is a father with past experience. Some bullies will not stop until you stand up to them.
There is a scripture that says, Don’t resist an evil person . . . turn the other cheek.
5 Responses to “Someone I Can’t Resist?”
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Been there… done that one… in my own life… and in my boy’s life. My boy, now 22, sits on the couch beside me at this moment. My boy says this (and I paraphrase slightly): “You can stand up to another person while turning the other cheek. Standing up is not returning wrong for wrong, it’s just standing up to wrong.” His dad says, “While reacting wrongly to a wrong action is not a good thing, responding firmly seems acceptable.” Maybe not much help, but we care. May you and the boy have the mind of Christ as He helps you bind the bully, because bowing to him would be inappropriate. Idolatry even, maybe?
Kerry,
Thanks for the wise words. There is something about standing up to this bully that seems like the right thing to do, but I still have trouble reconciling “Do not resist an evil person . . .” I only have two cheeks. So perhaps there is a limit to the patience and longsuffering. I would feel much better if the “Do not resist” part wasn’t there.
We are told to resist evil, so how do you resist evil and not resist an evil person? Is confronting evil wrong? I think not. Jesus did that often.
I realize this comment is the opposite of helpful, but I’ll share my thoughts anyway. When I read the second line for the first time it felt ambiguous. I, of course, see which boy you are talking about, but something about the order of words planted a seed.
“There is a boy who is hurt, and very tired of it.”
Maybe there is more than one boy who is hurt. Maybe not. Maybe the bully is just a meanie face. But what if? No circumstance gives one person license to be hurtful to another, but when we stand up to a bully maybe it’s important to consider the hurt of those who hurt us.
“Do not resist an evil person…”
All I know is that a Bully expects violence. He expects to be challenged. Nothing is more surprising (or disappointing) than a free cheek to smite.
Does that mean a certain boy shouldn’t stand up to the bully? No… There is a part of me that feels, “Nobody hurts the boy on my watch!” *shakes fist* But… another part of me knows that the bully is just a boy too. A mean boy. A boy who should not be allowed to hurt others, but still, a boy that Jesus loves…
Like I said… not helpful.
Thanks all, for the comments. It seems most people I have talked to about this think a person has a right to defend themselves. The scripture (Mathew chapter 5 by the way) mentions “an eye for an eye” as the old way that the new way is replacing. So, maybe it’s more about the attitude of retaliation than anything else. Never-the-less, “do not resist an evil person” and then giving the examples of turning the other cheek and giving more than what is demanded sure sounds like letting “the bad guy” have his way.
Believe me, I am amply prepared to defend my home, family, and person. And if I ever have to pull out the shotgun on an intruder, I will. But it will be really hard to define that as “submitting to the evil person.”
In any case, Jac, I think you are right. The “bad guy” is hurting to. And we are commanded to love and pray for our enemies.
Never give up the search for truth,
Mark