State of the Heart

Jesus was not a pacifist. The scripture is starkly bold “do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles…” (Matthew 5:39-41) This is not pacifism, nor is it violence. It is what Shane Claiborne refers to as the third way of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus stands without backing down to a slap to reveal the weakness of the other person who would slap the other cheek. Jesus disrobes all his earthly possessions for the weakness of hatred to be revealed in the heart of the one who would sue you into poverty. Jesus goes an extra mile to reveal the corruptness of the heart that would break even his own law in order to have control or power over you. This is not passivity and cowardice, nor is this the unrestrained arrogance of power based in control. What Jesus teaches and models is far more difficult, bold and courageous: He takes all of the force of the punch of hatred and withstands it in order to reveal the impurity of heart of the one who throws the punch because he knows only when the individual realizes their state of their own heart can it begin to change. No amount of force can trample out evil.