I spent 20 years of my youth working in jail as a Corrections Officer. That was back when I had a full head of hair and wore pants whose waist was smaller than my inseam. But that was many, many, many Big Mac's ago.
I was conflicted.
Part of me was a Corrections Officer whose job was to take unwilling customers that refused to play by the rules and impose my will on them and force them into compliance.
The other part of me was a Christian C.O. who was nudged by the Holy Spirit to live a life that reflected the glory of God.
More often than not, I was better at the first part than the second part.
I was conflicted.
One winter I had a few Inmates in North Wing that were asking good thought provoking questions about God. I was enjoying the challenge and bringing them Bible's. It was a very uplifting experience for me.
Then late on a Saturday night, a Colville Officer arrested a DUI that was less than cooperative. We tussled around and finally after a great deal of convincing, got him out of the patrol car.
He had slipped his handcuffs around in front of him and was doing a pretty good job smacking us around. Finally the Officer and I grabbed our customer and persuaded him to head down the stairs and into the jail.
About halfway down the stairs, my customer was flailing around in his drunken stupor and managed to hit me in the side of the head hard enough to ring my bell.
Well, by this time, I had tired of the festivities and Homer the clown had stomped on my last nerve so I pulled him the rest of the way down the stairs and planted him on the concrete. He continued to kick and punch until I landed in the middle of his back. This seemed to have a calming affect, at least until he caught his breath again and went back to fighting. Things got pretty frisky for a few minutes until I got him hog-tied (sorry, properly restrained).
Then I looked up and not 10 feet in front of me was, the group of guys in North Wing that I had been holding Bible study with.
Yea. I was conflicted. My worlds collided.
My head tells me that I had effectively and appropriately done my job in a professional manner.
My heart tells me that I have too many Bible verses memorized that suggest my actions were less than Christian. Perhaps my actions were appropriate but my attitude and motives were out of whack. Ephesians 4:26, "In your anger, do not sin."
What to do.... What to do....
"Never pay back evil with more evil.
Do things in such a way that everyone
can see you are honorable."
Romans 12:17
"See that no one pays back evil for evil,
but always try to do good to each other and to all people."
1 Thessalonians 5:15
Here in America, we have RIGHTS.
And when our RIGHTS are violated, we lash out, we vent, we attack, we riot, we throw temper tantrums, we run people off the road, we shoot at them, we do whatever is necessary to insure that no one ever tramples on our RIGHTS again.
"But I say, do not resist an evil person!
If someone slaps you on the right cheek,
offer the other cheek also."
Matthew 5:39
"If someone slaps you on one cheek,
offer the other cheek also.
If someone demands your coat,
offer your shirt also" Luke 6:29
So why would Jesus make such impossible statements?
Simply because He has graciously given each of His children everything they need to succeed in their Christian life. The Holy Spirit lives in our hearts to empower and guide us. God's Word in our hands to serve as the Sword of the Spirit. The church to surround us with encouragement, accountability, and build us up in the faith.
Jesus does not expect us to life like the world, because we are not citizens of this corrupt old world. Our home is in Heaven. Our Father is in Heaven. And Jesus expects us to act like it.
