A Holy Charge (15)

 

 

“See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people” (1 Thess. 5:15).

 

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).

 

I suppose there is no better commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:15 than the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:38 – 48.

 

“Do not resist evil…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…for if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

 

It is quite the passage (Matthew 5:38 – 48), a passage we rationalize away, a passage we seek justification to violate, a passage that is simply not practical; it makes no sense…at least to the “natural” man or woman.

 

And yet, in the Cross we see that it leads to victory over sin, death, and the devil. Yet, in Revelation we see that the Lamb and His followers are victorious as they lay their lives down, not as they take the lives of others (Rev. 7:9 – 17; 12:11).

 

You see, dear friends, you and I are to participate in the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ. The Cross is an event in time and space, but it is also an event in eternity. It is an event in eternity, but it is also a Way of Life in time and space. It is a Way of Life in time and space, but it also reaches into eternity and eternity reaches into our hearts, minds, and souls.

 

In our koinonia in the sufferings of Christ, we participate in the filling up of Christ’s afflictions for His People, His Body (Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24). We simply cannot understand this, but we can experience it.

 

“For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats; but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:20 – 23).

 

“Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:19).

 

Not returning evil for evil often involves suffering; suffering the wrong, suffering the effects of the wrong. It also involves blessing those who are propagating the evil – praying for them, sharing Jesus with them, forgiving them. We can only truly live this as we abide in the Vine, our dear Lord Jesus Christ, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:1 – 5).

 

Not returning evil for evil is a testimony that we will trust our Father to care for us, for He is righteous and He is ever faithful. Not returning evil for evil means that we relinquish control of our lives, of the situation, and that we do not attempt to control others.

 

Not returning evil for evil is anything but passive, for it requires an act of the will, enabled by the grace of God, to surrender ourselves to Christ and to actively seek the good of those who inflict evil upon us.

 

Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mt. 6:12). We might also pray, “Forgive us the evil we have done, as we have forgiven others the evil they have done to us.” Or “Forgive us the sin we have done, as we have forgiven others the sin they have done to us.”

 

We are to always be “forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).  

 

When the Thessalonians first met Paul and Silas, they had come from being beaten and imprisoned in Philippi. As Paul and Silas shared the Gospel in Thessalonica persecution again broke out, with the cry, “These men who have upset the world have come here also” (Acts 17:6). Nowhere do we see in Acts that Paul and his friends returned evil for evil during persecutions and hardships they endured. The Thessalonians knew, as they read Paul’s words about not returning evil with evil, that Paul lived what he preached; Paul not only talked the talk, he walked the walked.

 

Nowhere in Acts do we see the followers of Jesus returning evil for evil.

 

Nowhere in the storms of persecution in Revelation do we see the followers of the Lamb returning evil for evil.

 

Nowhere in the life of Jesus Christ do we see Him returning evil for evil.

 

This is not a natural way to live, but it is the way we are to live in Christ, if indeed Christ lives within us. Let us remember that “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son” (Ro. 5:10). As the death of Christ is manifested in us, as we participate in the sufferings of Christ, others can also be reconciled to God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

If this is the way we are to live toward all mankind, it is most especially the way we are to live in Chrisian community.

 

What does 1 Thessalonians 5:15 look like in our lives?

 

We’ll continue with this verse in our next reflection in this series, the Lord willing.

Mythical Identities

 

 

I love the early morning, spending time in communion with our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; meditating in the Word of God, praying for friends, family, and others. I love listening to creation awake, the birds singing. I love watching the first hint of sunshine reflecting off trees and flowers.

 

As I write this I’m reminded of a morning in Daytona, Florida in February quite a few years ago. I arose early that morning, as I normally do, and decided to walk around Daytona International Speedway. In just a few hours the racetrack would roar to life as the command, “Gentlemen start your engines,” was given, then, after some warmup laps the green flag would wave and the Daytona 500 would begin – NASCAR’s premier race. At the beginning of my walk all was quiet around the outside of the track, but by the time I returned to my father-in-law’s RV where we were staying, the racing community around the track was waking up and I could hear stirrings inside the facility.

 

The capacity of the speedway is listed at 101,500, and it seemed as if all those people were in RVs and campers parked around the track, though I knew Daytona’s hotels were also full of race fans, as were accommodations in surrounding towns and cities. The thing about race fans in campers and RVs is that virtually each vehicle has at least one flag flying, a flag representing the race car driver whom the occupants of the RV identify with and want to win the race. Many vehicles have more than one flag because often a husband identifies with one racer and a wife with another. Some of these flags are modest; others are huge.

 

NASCAR fans not only fly the flags of their favorite racers, they wear shirts and hats with the racers’ car numbers and names – and they speak of them as if they know them personally, generally using their first names, even though most fans have never met those whose flags they fly, and if they have met them, it was only for a brief moment – perhaps to obtain an autograph.

 

Whether it is a fan of a race car driver, the fan of a singer or musician, or of an actor, or of an athlete in another sport – when people strongly identify with someone popular or famous they often derive a measure of their identity from that person. People can become obsessed with details about a celebrity’s life, thinking that they personally know the celebrity. The same can be true with identifying with sports teams. It can be true with politicians. It can be true with ideologies. It can be true with cultural practices. It can be true with our view of history.

 

In one way or another, much of what we identify with is myth and image, it is not real, it does not match the reality of the person, the political movement, the history or the culture or region or country – when we idolize others, when we idolize images, we gloss over the fallenness of mankind, we ignore sin, and we look to others and images as our saviors and redeemers and source of wholeness.

 

College sports is a particular reminder of this for me; in Virginia many of my friends identify with either the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech – and when their team is winning all is right with the world. They wear hats and have stickers on their cars indicating that they identify with the Cavaliers or Hokies – this is part of the “identity culture” in Virginia. However, this uncritical identification ignores the reality that much of what transpires in these universities is hostile to the image of God, the Gospel, and the commonsense moral and ethical health of their students. Parents and grandparents don’t really want to know what is taught and practiced in the colleges they send their children to and pay tuition to - they would rather subscribe to mythical images. The same is true for our public schools – it is easier to root for the high school football team than it is to critique what is being taught in classes and to evaluate the (a)moral and (un)ethical practices inculcated in our children.

 

Because of the media tools at our disposal, the power of myth and image is so much stronger today than it has ever been in history, it is what a friend once called “electronic cocaine.” Our attention spans are shorter than previous generations and our capacity for critical thinking is diminished more than they have probably ever been.

 

When we have culture clashes and disputes over the reading and interpretation of history, much of it is about mythical identities rather than the truth – for the truth puts us on our faces, for when we see the truth, as fragmented as our vision may be, we have to acknowledge deep moral and ethical failure in humanity. We are angry when others challenge our myths, we are afraid to see our myths for what they are, and we are most afraid to question our mythical identities – whether they are cultural, ethnic, racial, regional, national, political, or having to do with religious tradition.

 

For sure we should beware of seeking to unmask the mythical identities of others while leaving our own untouched – for unless we know something of the pain of confronting our own myths, it is unlikely that we can communicate with others in such a way as to help them see their own.

 

Perhaps this is one of many reasons why the message of the Bible gives us hope, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – this means, in part, that none of us is measuring up to God’s original intention for us. The Cross is the great leveler of humanity, “there is none good, no not one.” That means me and it means you, and perhaps more importantly in the context of mythical identity, it means “us.” We are all infected with mythical identities. It is only when we discover our true identity in Jesus Christ that we can begin to shed the mythical identities that have encumbered us.  

 

By God’s grace I have encountered mythical identities in my own life, and that is one reason I refuse to use words such as liberal, conservative, progressive; it is why I don’t care for the words clergy and laity; it is why I much prefer Mere Christianity to a franchised brand that would distinguish me from other Christ-followers; it is why when people do coalesce around labels, or attack labels, that I try to understand what they really mean…and have found that often they don’t know.

 

I have been appalled at the mythical identities that I have worn without question.

 

Can you identify mythical identities in your own life?

 

Galatians 2:20; 6:14