August 2013
Imprints Year One
“What is the virtue of a proportional response?” These words were emphatically posed by the fictional President of the U.S. to his military cabinet on the television show “The West Wing.” A plane of medical professionals had been senselessly shot down and the president was trying to decide what the appropriate response should be. While the president wanted to “rain down on their heads with the fury of God,” his cabinet was trying to convince him to be more sensible - to send a proportional response.
I couldn’t help but think of that when I look at this month’s Imprints passages. What is our response in the face of being wronged? In the face of insult and injury? How are we to respond to our enemies in light of who Jesus is and what he taught? The proportional response is simple. It’s been around since the Code of Hammurabi: “an eye for eye, a tooth for a tooth.” But the Jesus Way doesn’t call for a proportional response. No, the Jesus Way teaches a disproportional response. Instead of anger, give love; instead of violence, offer forgiveness; instead of waging war, make peace. It’s not the response the world expects or would always agree with, but it is the response the world desperately needs.
I couldn’t help but think of that when I look at this month’s Imprints passages. What is our response in the face of being wronged? In the face of insult and injury? How are we to respond to our enemies in light of who Jesus is and what he taught? The proportional response is simple. It’s been around since the Code of Hammurabi: “an eye for eye, a tooth for a tooth.” But the Jesus Way doesn’t call for a proportional response. No, the Jesus Way teaches a disproportional response. Instead of anger, give love; instead of violence, offer forgiveness; instead of waging war, make peace. It’s not the response the world expects or would always agree with, but it is the response the world desperately needs.
"Jesus Teaches About Enemies" |
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August 25, 2013 Steven Norris, preaching
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