Introduction
“Your ancestors have also been taught, ‘Take an eye in exchange for an eye and a tooth in exchange for a tooth.’ However, I say to you, don’t repay an evil act with another evil act. But whoever insults you by slapping you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well. If someone is determined to sue you for your coat, give him the shirt off your back as a gift in return. And should people in authority take advantage of you, do more than what they demand. Learn to generously share what you have with those who ask for help, and don’t close your heart to the one who comes to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:38-42) TPT
I learned this scripture as a child and pretty much adhered to it most of my life. I was weak and hid behind this scripture as a means of justifying my lack of resolve. There were times, however, when I questioned the words of Jesus and asked myself, “When do I stop and fight back? When do I stand up for myself and be a man? When do I stand my ground and let my opponent have his do?” I became sick of “turning the other cheek” and wanted to stop.
Today, in the Church, I see the verse “…turn the other cheek” become an excuse for apathy, laziness, feeling sorry for yourself, and, just plain ignorance. Many have taken up the philosophy of pacifism and just don’t want to get involved. As a result, we do not know how to fight and defend our faith as our forefathers did. I ask myself, “Where are the Gidions of this world who are not afraid to go to battle for what they believe?” I just wrote an article on “The Church Today” (Click here). What a sad report. There have been times when I feel like I don’t want to be associated with these people. I feel like removing the article from my repertoire. It makes me angry.
Let’s explore Jesus’ comment further and learn what it means.
Definitions (modified Google translations as I use them in this paper)
Apologetics
The systematic argumentation and discourse to defend religious beliefs against critics and outsiders. The term comes from the Greek word apologia, meaning ‘speaking in defense’.
True apologists are amazing people. To understand them you must read the works of CS Lewis, Charles Colson, Francis Schaeffer, Josh McDowell, and others. They leave no stone unturned when confronted with many of today’s Woke rebuttals that refute our faith. When it comes to defending the faith they do not “turn the other cheek” but speak the truth as it is written.
Confrontation
The engagement of two opposing forces.
Gas-lighting
Gas-lighting is a manipulation tactic often wielded by emotional abusers, gradually making you question your judgment, feelings, memories, and reality. It is often used in manipulating Christians into questioning their faith. More about this is below.
Pacifism
The opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes, or the refusal to bear arms on moral or religious grounds. Pacifism is the belief that violence and war are unjustifiable and that disputes should be settled through peaceful means. This ideology promotes non-violent resistance and seeks to resolve conflicts without resorting to force, (Merriam-Webster dictionary) Mahatma Gandhi was a pacifist leading India to independence from British rule. However, many take pacifism and see it as “turning the other cheek”. Not so. Read on.
What Did Jesus Mean in Matthew 5:39
To understand Matthew 5:39, we must understand the culture and laws of citizens in Israel at that time. It was lawful for a Roman soldier to ask a citizen to carry his baggage for one mile. Slapping a citizen also has implications we may not realize. It is not the same as pacifism. Read the analogy below from the internet for a concise explanation.
“The “slap” in Matthew 5:39, could be regarded as contempt for a variety of personal rights, not simply the physical slap. It included insults and offenses against a person’s dignity. In Jesus’ day, Israel was a Roman-occupied territory. If the Jews, as subjects of Rome, did not comply with a Roman soldier’s requests for anything from a drink of water to handing over personal property, a swift backhand to the right cheek was common. But why would Jesus instruct His followers to offer the left cheek as well? Paul T. Penley (Author of “Reenacting the Way”) explains in “Turning the Other Cheek”: Jesus’ Peaceful Plan to Challenge Injustice,” “Roman soldiers tended to be right-handed. When they struck an equal with a fist, it came from the right and made contact with the left side of the face. When they struck an inferior person, they swung with the back of their right hand making contact with the right cheek. In a Mediterranean culture that made clear distinctions between classes, Roman soldiers backhanded their subjects to make a point. Jews were second-class.” The Roman slap was an insult to the Jews’ dignity. Corey Far explained that a slap on the right cheek meant the soldier backhanded the Jews, which was a far more demeaning slap. “It was degrading,” he said. “It was what you gave to an inferior or a slave.” To not break down emotionally and simply turn the other cheek meant that the soldier couldn’t slap you again on the right cheek, and, Cory Farr (Author of “Faith and Spirituality”)said, “he can’t slap you with his left hand, because that is unclean for both of you.” The soldier’s only option was to slap with the palm of his hand, and “this was not the way to slap a slave. This was reserved for equals.” Thus, in turning the other cheek, the degraded person asserted his humanity in a brave countermove — a humble response, yet also an act of courage against an oppressive system. The Jews were well acquainted with the concept of “giving cheek.” (From the internet. Click here)
Gas Lighting
This is very important to understand when it comes to conflict and opposition. It is a stumbling block for many of us. We have all become victims of “Gas-lighting” and may still be. The best explanation of Gas-lighting is quoted below.
“…Because of its (Gas-lighting) insidious nature, it can be hard for victims to recognize it as it’s happening. Abusers use gas-lighting as a way to gain and maintain power and control in the relationship. They break down your confidence over time by making you think your interpretation of events is incorrect. The more you second-guess yourself, the more you start to believe their version must be the accurate one. People who cannot authentically argue their point of view or stand behind their words turn to gaslighting as a tool. They resort to confusion-creating tactics, and that is a sign of character weakness.” (HuffPost – chick here)
Here is a good example where we must possess the intelligence and resolve to not let people walk over our Christian values or principles. How can we spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and let evil, such as this, overcome us when we should be the overcomes of evil?
How do we overcome this?
Christians must be bold when it comes to defending the faith, standing for what is right, and obeying Adonai. God needs no defense but if we are truly His ambassadors we must be bold and speak His Word. If we do not we are submitting to the world becoming a (fake) pacifist and letting everything fall to chance.
“And they overcame him (Satan and the powers of darkness) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11) KJV
Confrontation
There are two types of confrontation: Vindictive Confrontation and Correctional Confrontation.
1. Vindictive Confrontation is a “get even” or “one-upmanship” type of behavior. We know the answer to His from Scripture.
“Beloved, don’t be obsessed with taking revenge, but leave that to God’s righteous justice. For the Scriptures say: “If you don’t take justice in your own hands, I will release justice for you,” says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) TPT
“Never retaliate when someone treats you wrongly, nor insult those who insult you, but instead, respond by speaking a blessing over them—because a blessing is what God promised to give you. “ (1 Peter 3:9) TPT
This is where you may want to “turn the other cheek”.
2. Correctional Confrontation occurs when a righteous individual (a believer) corrects a family member or friend for wrongdoing. Again Scriptures address this very well.
“…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2) ESV
“Finally, as members of God’s beloved family, we must go after the one who wanders from the truth and bring him back. For the one who restores the sinning believer to God from the error of his way, gives back to his soul life from the dead, and covers over countless sins by their demonstration of love! (James 5:19 – 21) TPT
“When one of your godly lovers corrects me or one of your faithful ones rebukes me, I will accept it like an honor I cannot refuse. It will be as healing medicine that I swallow without an offended heart. Even if they are mistaken, I will continue to pray.” (Psalms 141:5) TPT
Turning the other cheek or ignoring these conflicts is not scriptural. However, beware that the manner of your correction is done with a heart of Christ in mind.
In understanding this paper it is wise to remember that in all circumstances of life, there is the physical and the spiritual. I have been addressing the physical. The Spiritual is well covered in Ephesians 6:12;
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” TPT
Gideon
There are many Bible heroes I can choose to illustrate my point. For this paper I choose Gideon because he reminds me a little of me. I was taught not to speak unless spoken to and avoiding confrontation at any cost. Read about Gideon in the Book of Judges. He was Israel’s fifth judge and became one of the men of renown mentioned in the Book of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:32).
A Brief on Gideon
Israel had been at peace for forty years when the Midianites started persecuting them. Gideon was hiding in caves, only going out at night to thresh wheat, being fearful of confrontation as I was in my early Christian days. An angel appears to him calling Gideon a hero. In Gideon’s mind, he was anything but a hero and initially did not trust the Angel who was telling him he would be Israel’s hope for defeating Midian. Now don’t blame Gideon. I would feel the same way if that were to happen to me today. To make the story short Gideon tested God via many fleeces satisfying his doubts that this is indeed Adonai’s will. The result was that Gideon, who was weak in faith and unwilling to commit and who among all of Israel, preferred to “turn the other cheek” rather than get involved, defeated Midian’s army of over 150,000 with only 300 men. Gideon had done the impossible when he finally realized that he must act aggressively to free Israel from oppression. When all was over, the people blew their shofars and shouted “The sword for (not of) Adonai and for Gideon”.
The analogy here is that we too hide from Christian opposition and responsibilities. It’s sometimes easier to “turn the other cheek” and “let someone else do it” than make a personal commitment. We often put fleeces before God, before believing His Word and acting on Faith. We turn the other cheek as Israel did many times. Instead, we must stand our ground fighting as God commands.
What persuades us to behave this way and let others do the job that we should do? We have God on our side yet we still fear men and what they will do to us. Turning the other cheek has its place but it should not be our preference for defending the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It makes others see us as inept weaklings. “Don’t get involved” we are told, you will only cause more problems. We are like Gideons and prefer to hide, taking care of “me, myself, and I” (the world’s trinity) and letting others do what they want. In effect what we are doing is allowing the world to influence us (Christians) rather than boldly influence the world ourselves.
“Yet no one was bold enough to speak out publicly on Jesus’ behalf for fear…” (John 7:13) TPT
“…be strong in the Lord, and the power of his might.” (Ephesians 6:10) KJV)
“Fear and intimidation is a trap that holds you back. But when you place your confidence in the Lord, you will be seated in the high place.” (Proverbs 29:25) TPT
Do We Have Any Scriptural Cause to Fight Back?
Unless you are blind and lack total understanding you should be able to answer this question. Certainly, Israel had cause when they obeyed God in fighting the Amalekites, telling them to rid the Earth of all men, women, children, and livestock of this race. (Yes Genocide). What about David fighting the Philistines? He became one of God’s favored sons. If you are truly reading the Bible as you should you will find that “turning the other cheek” (as we understand it today) is not always God’s will.
I find this so important that I wrote four (4) papers on the “Art of War and the Army of God” (click here) and another article on “The Evolution of Warfare” click here. These should help you understand conflict better.
Apologists – Defenders of the Faith
Some of the greatest warriors of our time are Apologists like C. S. Lewis, Chuck Colson, Josh McDowell, and others. They take the nay-sayers and Woke philosophers of this world and verbally rake them of their illogical, evil intentions of ungodly, worldly reasoning. These defenders of the faith make fools of those who think themselves wise, unmasking them as the prideful scholarly people they think they are. They may “turn the other cheek” when it comes to their rejection but not when it comes to their faith.
“Although claiming to be super-intelligent, they were shallow fools.” (Romans 1:22) TPT
All of us, who call ourselves Christians, need to stand up to this world religion and bind the mouths of these naysayers, exposing God’s Word to be true and everything else a lie. In all the papers I have written I elude to the answer. We must know His Word, draw closer to Him, hear His voice and obey. Fear is what draws us away. Only our perfect love, of God and one another, can save us.
Conclusion
There are different ways to fight for your rights as an individual and as a Christian. Most of our conflicts are in the heavens. Our armament is spiritual as well as the battle. However, there are carnal battles also. Turning the other cheek is one way to fight that is scriptural and is good in some circumstances but not all. The example of Gideon given above is only one. The Bible also tells us that God Himself “… trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” (Psalms 144:1) ESV The list goes on:
“And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14) ESV
“…a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:7,8) ESV
“…for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”(Deuteronomy 20:4) ESV
“…learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (Isiah 1:17) ESV
“Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:9) ESV
“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;” (Psalms 149:6) KJV
Along with these verses we need to look at the history and battles of our patriarchs to see how battles are won. Read about Gideon and all the Judges, Samuel, David and the Kings of Israel. They all had times when they “turned the other cheek” but they all fought many wars with the Word of God in their mouths and a sword (not only God’s Word but not without it) in their hands.
Enough Said
“When I found your words, I devoured them; your words made glad, they gave me joy; because, Adonai Tzv’ot you had me bear your name” (Jeremiah 15:16) CJB
