FTAggies said:
Heard a sermon about NOT being someone who rolls over and takes it, abuse, punishment, etc.; essentially don't turn the other cheek, apparently the opposite of what Jesus said. My question is this, should we just lay down and die in the modern day coliseum?
I don't know what this means exactly.
Christians are not called to be doormats, and we should not simply let people abuse us in a general sense. We certainly shouldn't seek out abuse. Suffering isn't salvific in and of itself.
I think when people deal with this kind of question there's always the temptation of looking at Christ with the wisdom of the world. A post above does that in a way - as if to say: "He couldn't possibly have meant what He said, so let's find a clever, hidden, deeper meaning that makes it make sense to our worldly sensibilities. Look, this isn't about offering your cheek truly, it isn't about humility, it's about putting the person in their place!"
Nobody, and I mean
nobody wanted the Christ to look like He did. St Peter said no, this will never happen to you and Christ rebukes him. They asked Him - if you're truly the Christ, come down from the cross. The Jews wanted a sign, do something to show your
power. But the power of Christ, the power of God, is truly folly to the world. As St Paul says
Quote:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those indeed perishing, but to us being saved it is the power of God. For it has been written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; and the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those believing.
Forasmuch as both Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek wisdom, we, however, preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block indeed to the Jewish and foolishness to Gentiles, but those called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men
It is always tempting to take the foolish, weak God and refashion Him into something we want, something that meets our needs. We don't want to die, we don't want to be weak. We don't want to be humbled. We don't want to suffer, be mocked. We don't want the bad people to be forgiven, we want justice our way. We want the bad to be punished, and the good (which is always us, of course) to be rewarded.
But the beauty here is that this is the ultimate power of God. This is the paradox, the ultimate power and strength, the ultimate mighty salvific act of God is one of utter foolishness to the wisdom of the world. He dies. He comes, and He dies. But in this death He destroys death. In His weakness, He conquers. And He saves everyone, every single person. This is the reality, I think, of the divine name - the I am, I will be who I will be, I exist, I do what I do, I act how I act. He's not
our God. Like CS Lewis' characters say of Aslan, "He's not a
tame lion."
Maybe the greatest temptation that faces all Christians is the one being discussed in this very thread: to take the mighty, powerful, loving, wonderful God that was shown to us - made known to us by the very Word and Power of God becoming a man - and turn Him into an idol of our own imaginings because He doesn't look like the god we want. This has to be absolutely fought at every turn. Instead - "we have the mind of Christ."