Turning the Other Cheek with a Smile

Recently a friend told me about a person who, when they are together always says things to deliberately hurt her—especially in faith matters. He shows no respect and seems to enjoy making her uncomfortable. This friend was dreading that Thanksgiving forced the two to share the same room and celebration. I could readily identify with her.  Don’t we all have such people in our lives?

Even though Jesus told us in Matthew 5 that we are to be “happy about it when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers,” and even promises us a blessing, it’s hard for us humans to rejoice when it actually happens.

     My first reaction to such put-downs is apt to be hurt. Then I begin to think of all kinds of come-backs, most of which are not the kind of thing I really want to say. To say them would put me on the same level as the one who is throwing such denunciations at me. I bite my tongue and try to keep quiet, but my self-esteem takes a beating. The whole ambiance is quickly turned to discomfort and a wish to escape and lick my wounds.

     How quickly words can change attitudes and feelings.  A few words can build up or tear down in a matter of seconds.  I, myself, need to be conscious of this and use words carefully so as to do the former rather than the latter. I have control over what I say if I heed the warning that James has for me. He reminds me that an unruly tongue can set my whole life afire!

     So what if I am in the presence of someone else who wants to set my life on fire? How do I act or react?  It’s especially difficult when it’s my faith, or my Lord that is being ridiculed. What can I do to make the circumstance a positive rather than a negative?  Proverbs tells me that a soft answer turns away wrath, but how often can I think of an appropriate soft answer when I’m under fire? 

     It seems to me the best antidote to such situations is to try to see these people through Jesus’ eyes. What do I speculate Jesus’ thoughts to be when he sees this happening to a beloved child of his?  How does he see the person who is so insecure in his own feelings that he needs to belittle someone else?

     Ah-hh!  He loves us both.

     I can rest secure in God’s love for me, his support and assurance even in the face of unkind remarks, because he loves me so much.  He is right there with me, ready to take the barbs meant for me. Instead of resentment, I can feel pity and love for the person who feels he needs to be putting me down.  I can quietly ask God to see behind the insecurity this individual feels.  I can ask the Holy Spirit to whisper words of kindness to another child he loves. I can offer a kindly smile, knowing that he still hasn’t found the grace of God.

     And if he wonders why I offer that smile after unkind words, maybe it will help him pause to think again!

Christians as the new fascists?

Most of us write with dreams of doing some good for the Kingdom of God. We also dream of selling some books or articles, maybe making a decent living at what we see as our calling. But what if our writing brings us grief? What if we destroy our reputation in the process? Are we willing to write if it costs us dearly?

I came across this column while going through my constant barrage of email and SPAM today. It reminds me of some dangerous trends I see developing here in benevolent Canada as well.

Don Feder writes:

"Breezing through the bookstore at Reagan National Airport the other day, I
came across a new volume with the unsubtle title, "American Fascists - The
Christian Right and The War on America" by former New York Times'
correspondent Chris Hedges.

But, as the saying goes, tell us what you really think. No hyperbole
here. In the introduction, Hedges makes it clear that he actually is comparing evangelical opponents of abortion and gay marriage to the monsters who burned books, ran death camps and plunged humanity into a world war that left 63 million dead.

Except it's Hedges who wants to burn books and gag his opponents - but we'll get to that shortly."

------------

Read the whole thing. Canadian Christians like to distance themselves from the Christian Right in the U.S. We like to say we're different, less harsh, less doctrinaire, well, 'er, maybe nicer because we are Canadian? We do have a different ethos up here, for sure, and politics is less likely to be wrapped in religious terminology and God is not Republican here.

However, I wonder how much we buy into villification of the Christian Right that we get constantly through our media. And how many of us would be surprised to find that we ourselves, despite our attempts to be relevant, to reach out, to engage the culture without giving offence, are cast in the same negative light. Lumped in with these "bad guys."

From my journalistic perch in Ottawa, I see worrisome signs as Christians in Canada are being cast as anti-Canadian or anti-Charter values by our own homegrown media and many politicians. In fact its common for politicians to raise the spectre of the scary Christian. In fact, I'm sorry to say, I've even seen Christian politicians do it to each other. "He's scary, but I'm not."

The thing is, as Christians, we have to be prepared to be misunderstood.

As writers, are we prepared for having our words miscontrued, our reputations put through the shredder, our faith attacked and our character questioned? Will we abandon more and more fields when it becomes clear there is a greater and greater price to pay for speaking up?

Sobering things to think about. Funny though, Jesus and the Apostle Paul warn us about persecution, about lies being said about us, about some of us even being put to death. Let's hope we don't cave in. But let's hope we continue to make sure that we stand up for Truth with love, so we don't end up being persecuted for being jerks! And let's be careful not to engage in inadvertent Christian bashing ourselves. We may not like the way the Christian Right in the U.S. comes across, but maybe what we're reading and seeing is not true.