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Exchanged Glory III: Wise as Serpents
<page 106>Jesus wasn’t demolishing the Law in Matthew 5-7; He was explaining it. His words were examples of Him treating the smallest item in God’s Law as important.
Several years before I started studying Proverbs, I experienced a theological change that affected the steps I took to repent of my love of simplicity (Proverbs 1:22). It had to do with my interpretation of Matthew chapters 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. These well-known verses were some of the first that I read in the Bible, and I will always remember how they struck me.
I had been a Christian for about two weeks, and had just finished reading the Gospel of John. I have to admit that John didn’t do much for me. The talk of the flesh, the Spirit, Bread from Heaven, and other religious jargon went right over my head. The Sermon on the Mount, however, was different. Here I found simple instructions about how to live. I liked it so much that over the next few years I put most of it to music and did my best to put it into practice.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
As someone who had grown up in the “Woodstock Generation,”[47] I thought I knew what these verses meant. My interpretation was simple, straightforward, and – I now believe – wrong. I had watched my parent’s generation neglect God in order to pursue the “American Dream.” For them, life was about buying better houses, cars, and toys. They were laying up for themselves treasures on earth. Matthew 6:19 told me in clear language that I shouldn’t do this.
Jesus’ words seemed to be nothing less than a command to leave middle class America. What else could “do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” mean but that I should not lay up treasures for myself on earth? I could either have wealth now or wealth later. There didn’t appear to be much middle ground.
One day while I was in college, I was approached by a man with long hair, a beard, and a black robe. He began to tell me I was wasting my life by pursuing a college education. I was preparing <page 107>to lay up treasures on earth in disobedience to Jesus. He said that I needed to repent, leave college, and get on with the business of God’s kingdom.
I liked him. He was the one of the first Christians I had met who I thought honestly grappled with the words of Jesus.
I shared my plan with him. I was going to finish college, get a job, and donate most of my salary to the poor. In obedience to Christ, I would live at poverty level, but I would make enough money to help many others.
By the time I left college, however, the teaching and example of other Christians convinced me that Jesus didn’t require me to do this. I couldn’t quite figure out how “do not lay up treasures for yourselves on earth” meant “you can lay up some treasures as long as your heart is right and you use them for God’s glory,” but as I worked my way through the Scriptures, it made some sense. I still limited my spending so that I could be generous, but I didn’t live at poverty level. Other scriptures told me that this was a valid way to live.
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. (emphasis added)
It was acceptable to be rich in present age as long as I handled it by God’s standards. This change in theology left me feeling a little guilty, because it wasn’t a simple conclusion based on the straightforward words of Jesus. Still, I held steady with it until my wife and I bought a house.
While we searched, we told the realtor that we didn’t want a big mortgage. We were committed to honoring God with our money and needed small monthly payments in order to do so. Unfortunately, the houses in our price range were far less than what we wanted.
Then my in-laws found an advertisement in the paper for a home that looked like it might be a great deal. It came with a mortgage that we could take over from the original owner, which would cut our payments greatly. While interest rates in the early 1980’s were at sixteen percent, the mortgage for this house was eight and three quarters percent. This allowed us to buy a four-bedroom house for monthly payments that were about what we had been paying for a one-bedroom apartment! We signed the papers and the house was ours.
Everyone I knew considered it a blessing from God, but I became depressed. I kept wondering what the starving children of the world thought about my nice house – my multi-thousand dollar treasure on earth. I wallowed in guilt for about a week until my wife asked me if I would ever be happy in our new home. I told her I didn’t know.
Finally I sat down, sorted through some theology, and became convinced of what seemed obvious to everyone except for me – God had blessed us! He had given us more than enough room to raise a family, and He had preserved our ability to give to the poor. I still felt a little uneasy about my somewhat complex theology, but I was pretty sure it was right. I decided to feel grateful rather than guilt ridden.
I had a similar “Woodstock Generation” interpretation of the following verses.
<page 108>You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. …
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies
As someone who had grown up during the Vietnam War, I thought I knew what these verses meant. “I tell you not to resist an evil person” – what else could that possibly mean but that if a person was evil, I shouldn’t resist him?
The applications seemed obvious. I couldn’t solve problems with violence or intimidation, even if my government told me that I should. Could a police officer claim that he wasn’t resisting evil people while he beat them with a police stick? Could a soldier love his enemy while he put a bullet in his forehead?
Once again, my interpretation was simple, straightforward, and – I now believe – wrong. But in this case, unlike with Matthew 6:19-21, I wasn’t able to find other New Testament scriptures that taught me differently. There were no verses that told me I could physically fight against sinners as long as I did it in a way that glorified God.
The only scriptures that came close to that were those that called governments ministers of God (Romans 13:1-7). They said that authorities bear the sword to punish those who practice evil. However, although these verses showed that God could use the sword of the government, they didn’t convince me that I could participate. Throughout history, God has used all sorts of activities with which He wasn’t pleased. In ancient Israel, He ordained the wicked armies of Babylon to humble His people. He even told Jerusalem to surrender to these ungodly conquerors (Jeremiah 38:17-18). That, however, was a far cry from calling for Israel to join or become like the Babylonians. In the same way, God could use authorities and require us to submit to them without permitting us to be a part of their violence.
I felt conscience-bound to stay with the clear, simple, literal words of Jesus. I didn’t believe a sincere Christian should be a police officer or a soldier. I treated this so seriously that I quit a job in the early 1980s when I was about to be transferred to military work.
Most Christians, of course, told me that Jesus wasn’t talking about crimes and wars. They said that we needed to protect ourselves from violence and theft. I understood, but no one could tell me how to get that interpretation out of Matthew 5:38-44, or any other place in the New Testament. It seemed that the whole tone of the work of Jesus, from His death to the martyrs, contradicted it.
I wondered what I would do if someone tried to harm or kill my wife. I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t believe I was allowed to fight. I might pray or look for some way to sacrifice myself in her place, but I couldn’t violently resist.
Finally, a friend from church, Don, gave me a book that, for the first time, gave me Biblical reasons to change my theology about resisting evil. It pointed out that Jesus gave us the context for the Sermon on the Mount.
<page 109>Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures — either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive and working.
Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom.
(Matthew 5:17-19, The Message)
Jesus wasn’t demolishing the Law in Matthew 5-7; He was explaining it. His words were examples of Him treating the smallest item in God’s Law as important.[48] He was helping us to see its meaning.
My interpretation had been based on the idea that Jesus was giving a better Law. Moses had said “an eye for an eye”. Jesus was saying, “That’s not good enough; it’s too harsh. I tell you not to resist an evil person.“ I now saw my mistake. Jesus was repeating what the Old Testament said, not replacing it. Here are a couple of scriptures from the Law that I believe He had in mind.
Don't seek revenge or carry a grudge against any of your people. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am GOD.
(Leviticus 19:18, The Message)
If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch; if he's thirsty, bring him a drink.
(Proverbs 25:21, The Message)
Once I saw that the Law told us to love our enemies, I realized that Jesus quoted “an eye for an eye” because His countrymen were misusing it. They were taking it as an excuse for personal vendettas. The eye for an eye punishment was a civil penalty for those who inflicted serious physical damage on others, not an allowance for the tit for tat of personal squabbles. It didn’t give us permission to return an insult for an insult or a snub for a snub. It was written as a guide for governmental restitution when bodily harm occurred, not as a general principle of personal relationships.
The examples Jesus used showed some instances in which people were misusing the eye for an eye punishment as an excuse to take vengeance or bear a grudge. None of the examples involved the kind of damage for which “an eye for an eye” was designed.
… But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
<page 110>When we are slapped, the civil penalty only applies if some part of our body is destroyed – not a likely occurrence with a slap. Being sued, being forced to go a mile, or being asked for a loan were totally unrelated to the “eye for an eye” penalty. No physical damage was done, so it was not applicable to these offenses (and some of them weren’t even offenses). How could Jesus’s listeners have stretched “an eye for an eye” to justify personal vengeance in these situations? They obviously had misinterpreted it.
When I saw this, I began to understand civil justice. Jesus didn’t forbid resisting crime. Doing so would have demolished a large part of God’s Law and the Prophets. Christians could be a part of the police force or the army, and private citizens had a right to protect themselves and their property.
I was at last able to embrace what logic told me. When crime is involved, love resists an evil person. In fact, as a government and its citizens do their job with integrity, justice is an expression of God’s love for everyone. It holds back those who would make life miserable for others.
When good people are promoted, everything is great, but when the bad are in charge, watch out!
(Proverbs 28:12, The Message)
After careful scrutiny, a wise leader makes a clean sweep of rebels and dolts.
(Proverbs 20:26, The Message)
Good people celebrate when justice triumphs, but for the workers of evil it's a bad day.
(Proverbs 21:15, The Message)
Making this sort of theological change prepared me for Proverbs 1:22: “How long, O naïve ones, will you love simplicity?” The reasoning I had done seemed complicated to me, so my love of simplicity made me suspicious about doing it, but I had to admit that Jesus’ words made much more sense once I had worked my way through the complex issues.
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