Thursday, April 3, 2014

The Strongest Force in Creation

Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Luke, "to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who abuse us" (Luke 6:27-28). History has proven that this is not an easy command to follow. It is our human nature to retaliate. To protect ourselves. It is also a human characteristic to defend our reputations and when someone slanders us we want to set things right. Culturally and historically retaliation has been considered a strength.    
I recall my father telling me as a child, "if someone hits you, hit them back and if they are bigger than you are, pick up a stick.”  My father was one of eight children, he learned to fight when he was learning to walk.  His father was an alcoholic and an abusive parent and husband. Alcohol eventually put him in the ground at the age of 55. How we are raised affects how we raise our own children. We can either continue the pattern or we can say no. It is possible to change; Jesus assures us that it is possible to be a new creation. Children do not have to suffer the sins of their parents (Jeremiah 32:17).  It takes a greater strength to ignore hate then it does to retaliate with like actions.  Rob Bell in his book writes:
"There is a weakness that is actually strength.
And there is a strength that is actually weakness.
Take, for example, a parent who yells at their children and holds them accountable for all sorts of random tasks they were supposed to have known to do, and who allows their mood to dictate the mood of the whole house. This kind of parent dominates their family with manipulative behavior and petty punishments that create chaos and insecurity for those around them. This kind of parent is using their strength, but they are actually weak. They do this because in truth, they're broken, confused and insecure. They have no idea what they're doing, as a parent or as a person.
The same is true for managers and bosses and teachers and anyone who uses their position of authority to coerce or manipulate or bully others. They can get people to do what they want, but it's only because of the position they hold. Their authority is rooted in nothing larger or stronger or higher than their rank. And that can be taken away tomorrow. They may appear strong, but they are actually weak.
Contrast this with people who appear weak but are actually quite strong. It's when someone says something mean or cutting about us and everything within us wants to one-up them with an even nastier comment in return, thus winning the exchange, but we hold our tongue. We "lose" the round, but what we did took tremendous strength. And it would take even more strength to forgive them and then maybe even love them. It would all appear quite weak to the observer, unless they understood that what they were witnessing was actually strength in action." [Rob Bell, Sex God (Zondervan, 2008), 102-03].
Love transforms both the giver and the recipient. It is the strongest force in all creation. God is love…  


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