“Truth is timeless. Truth
does not differ from one age to another,
from one people to
another
from one geographical
location to another …
the great all-prevailing
Truth stands for time and eternity.”
-- Billy Graham in Quotes, p. 135., c. 2011.
Christians have been taught to turn the other cheek. In the
strictest form, this means that when someone hits you, you turn the other cheek
and let them hit you again if they are so inclined, but we are not to hit back.
For, Christ said, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also,
and if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as
well.” – (Matthew 5: 40. NIV). In both
these situations Christ was telling us that we must resist the evil that is in
this world, and not become part of all the evilness by reciprocating with more
evil. In other words, we are to let the world see Christ’s love through our
actions as well as our words. Therefore, we are to have good actions. So,
we are to show our Christian love by not retaliating in an evil way.
This above verse does not mean, though, that we are not to protect
our families, loved ones, and our country when the need arises. For, throughout
both the Older Testament/ Covenant and the Newer Testament/Covenant there would
be times when the Israelites had to protect themselves from the evil that came
against them, and God even helped them to win many battles through their faith
and reliance upon Him. Indeed, even in A.D. 70 when the Romans wiped out
everyone in Jerusalem, the Israelite people were allowed to fight back, but sadly
they just weren’t prepared for the large Roman army and the viciousness of the
Roman General who starved hundreds to death during the siege. In this particular
case, the Jewish people were desperately outnumbered. Moreover, their
destruction and the destruction of Jerusalem, as well as their diaspora had
been prophesied by Jesus.
God sent Jesus to save
humans from eternal death. Indeed, Jesus came to save those who would believe
on Him and repent of their sins as well as to bring in the Kingdom of God that
is based upon the love of God and the love of each other. In fact, our (saved) bodies
are temples for the Holy Spirit. For the Apostle Paul wrote, “Or
don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in
you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought
you with a high price….” – (I Corinthians 6: 19, 20. NLT). So, in honoring our bodies as a temple for the Holy Spirit, we
are to try not to sin, try not to hurt our bodies, try not to hurt others, and
we are not to reciprocate with more evil against the evil that is often
thrown our way. This does not mean, however, that we are not to defend
ourselves and our families from would be murderers, from violence, and other
kinds of evil. Christ was, though, telling us that we are not to be retaliatory
in our dealings with people. In other words, if someone says something hateful
and mean to us, we are not to try to find ways to get even or hurt them. We are
not to sue someone because we want to get even either. For, being vengeful is
not showing Christian love to world. It is not representing Christ and His love
to the world when we deliberately try to reciprocate hurt to another. In these cases,
we are to show Christ’s love to others, by turning the other cheek.
As Christians, we are to teach others about the love of Christ and
the Gospel message of Salvation. We can do this in our daily mentoring of
others as well as in specific Active
Relational Christian Mentoring of one or more individuals. (See The
Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring: Women Mentoring
Women with Christ at the Center by Vicky Lynn Thomas). But, we also need to be able to understand the words of Christ
so that if a specific question like “what
does it mean to turn the other cheek” is asked, we can then give a clear
answer. Consequently, Christians need to study God’s Word and meditate on the Word
as well as pray for clear answers to our own questions about certain verses
that we need help in understanding. We need to know the Truth. Otherwise, we
can take mistakenly take a single verse out of context and become confused over
its meaning.
Unfortunately, confusion is often the case with the “turn the other cheek” Bible verse, for
Christians have allowed this one verse in the Bible to dictate how we respond
to all the evilness in the world. For in turning our cheek within every
area of life, we have allowed ourselves to become so complacent about the evil
that surrounds us that we sit by and allow those that are evil and who are
doing evil things to quietly and determinedly destroy our country and our very
lives. We have taken the biblical verse and phrase “turn the other cheek” to mean something that it was never meant to
mean. Consequently, we now do nothing to stop the destructive forces that are
so determined to destroy all Christians and our country.
Because we have so identified with the “turn the other cheek” verse in the Bible, we do not even choose to
use our voices to project truthful words
and biblical verses, which can respond
to Satan’s arrows of lies and destruction that he continually throws at us
through his people who have hidden agendas and lies to tell. For example,
Christians and Americans in general are constantly being bombarded by the media
and the liberals with false information, lies, and deceit. But instead, of
countermanding these things with the Truth, we all sit back and do nothing even
when we recognize that they are lies and deceits. To make matters worse, some
Christians are so complacent and focused on turning the other cheek that they do
not even teach their children to distinguish between the lies and hidden
agendas of deceit bombarding them. They and their children just accept the lies
and deceit as part of what is happening in the world, and go on and do nothing
as if their freedoms will always exist.
The devil is always trying to twist the Truth to his advantage. In
fact, “It is Satan’s purpose to steal the
seed of truth from your heart by sending distracting thoughts…” -- (Billy Graham in Quotes, p. 136., c.
2011). Christians, though, should know that the devil has again usurped
and used a particular Bible verse, “turn
the other cheek”, for his benefit just as he tried to do so but fortunately
failed to accomplish when Jesus was alone in the wilderness. (See
Matthew 4: 1-11.). But, if we are to protect our freedoms and our Christian
life, we have to not only be discerning and always searching for the Truth, but
we have to also step up and tell the Truth, just as Jesus did out in the
wilderness when Satan tried to tempt Him. Notice that Jesus did not turn the
other cheek and just not say anything. Instead, He clearly told the Satan where
and how he was wrong and what the correct use of those Bible verses were.
Righteous Rebuttal
We do not have to sit by and do nothing when we know that someone
or some entity is telling a lie. Although, Jesus told us to turn the other
cheek, He also knew when it was time to take a stand for righteousness. One
example of such a stand, occurred after Jesus made His triumphal entry into
Jerusalem before Passover and before His subsequent death on the cross. Shortly
after entering Jerusalem Jesus went to the temple. The Bible says: “And
He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling
in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of
those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry
merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, ‘Is it
not written, ‘My house shall be called a House of prayer for all the Nations?’
But you have made it a Robbers’ Den.’”
-- (Mark 10:15-17. NASB).
Notice that Jesus acted upon a situation that was not right. He
did not simply say, “Oh well, they will learn someday not to do this,” or “I
will just turn my cheek and not say anything.” Instead, Jesus acted. Moreover,
He was not sinning when He acted even though He became angry at the money changers.
That is because there is a place for righteous anger, just as Jesus became
righteously angry with the moneychangers and with those that were selling
merchandise in the Temple. This was God’s House, i.e., His Father’s House, and
these men were desecrating it.
Christians also have a right to be righteously indignant or angry
when we see sin and injustice taking down our neighbors and our country. Why?
Because God established Truth, and He established this country on His Truth.
This country was created by God. Indeed, God used specific men He had chosen,
to establish our Republic which is based and founded upon God’s laws and upon the
foundations of the Bible. Obviously, they were not perfect men, for there are
no perfect men, but God brought together a unique group of men who had a love
for the divine and who wanted to have the freedoms that God had specifically given
to humans to be established for us in this nation and for all future Americans.
These freedoms would be enumerated in the Constitution and established for them
and for future generations through a new concept; a Republic, i.e. a democratic
Republic. No, it was not to be a government based solely upon democracy. It was
first and foremost to be a Republic that would use democratic principles in
keeping the people engaged for the Republic and their freedoms.
We were given a special gift
to be cherished and maintained through our strong reliance upon God and more
specifically through Jesus Christ. However, just as the moneychangers in the
Bible desecrated God’s temple, people today have desecrated the Republic that
God established for those who have believed in and would follow Him and His
Son, Jesus Christ. So, just as Christ became righteously angry and threw the
moneychangers and merchants out of the temple, we should also become
righteously angry and throw the representatives and senators out of congress who
are lying to us and who are acting like the Pharisees who established laws for
themselves and not for God. We can do this by voting them out. We can do
this by holding them accountable. We can do this by not watching the
liberal shows on television and thus not giving them the ratings they hope
to receive for their lies.
There are many legitimate
ways that Christians and conservatives can stand up for our country before it
becomes a pile of rubble the way that the Temple became a pile of rubble in
A.D. 70 when the Romans sacked Jerusalem. We can even start with each of us becoming
Active Relational Christian Mentors who can mentor those you need our
help, who have yet to come to know Christ as their Savior, or who have not
learned in school what our Republic stands for. In our Truthful mentoring, we
can teach others how to study the Bible and how to stand up for the Word of
God. Whether it is helping another woman through our counseling, coaching,
teaching, sponsorship, or just by becoming an accountability mentor/friend, we
can all be there to teach the Truth when we see and hear the lies that the left
is spewing all the time. We must no longer be passive when it comes to our country
and the Truth. We must step forward to mentor the Gospel Truth and then to show
people how they can use their voice to stand up for the Truth.
Unfortunately, Christian believers have become passive about many
things, because we have only heeded and have only adhered to the one verse in
the Bible about turning the other cheek. We have failed to read the whole Bible
and to understand what righteous anger is. So, when someone or some entity
sins, lies, misleads, or hurts others or us we do not do anything. Certainly,
we do not have to become retaliatory and we certainly should not
deliberately hurt another person, but we do have the right to stand up for the
Truth. Unfortunately, instead of using our brains to find legitimate ways of
rebuking the lies and deceit, many Christians have just given up and have
accepted the lies and deceits.
Remember that prayer is a powerful way to find answers and to
receive help from God. We cannot forget to pray or forget to ask for directions
and for strength from Christ in every area of our lives, including to ask Him
for help for our country and for the hurting people around us. Instead of just
turning the other cheek and allowing ourselves to be walked over, let’s turn to
God and Jesus Christ for answers and directions. God wants us to tell others
about Him and His Son, so it is safe to say, that He wants our country to stand
up for His Truth. But, when we fail to teach others about the Gospel message,
when we fail to mentor those that are hurting or need help, or when we fail to
set straight the lies that are perpetrated upon us or others, we are not doing
what God wants us to do. Furthermore, when we fail to stand up for the Gospel
message and the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, we are not doing what God wants
us to do. We are failing to live the Truth!
What can Christians do besides just accepting the status quo?
Well, Christians can write letters. We can call our congressperson and tell
them what we think about certain situations. We can become involved in local
politics by supporting the conservative agenda. We can volunteer and work to
defeat such a program as planned parenthood and by trying to stop our tax
dollars from funding abortions. All along the way, we can actively mentor other
women in order to empower them to be all they can be for God, themselves, their
families and friends. Indeed, there are many many things that Christian women
can do to help our country and to teach future generations about their
responsibility to protect and defend our country and its freedoms. What about
starting a massive nationwide writing campaign to tell our congressmen and
congresswomen how we feel about what they are doing or not doing? There are so
many ways that we could stand up for what is right, but we have to actually
take the time to do so. What happens, though, when we fail to do anything?
The Repercussions of
Our Failure to Rebuttal the Lies
By failing to be righteously indignant and by failing to do
something to stand up for our rights, we have allowed the liberals, including
the media, and now our elected officials to stomp all over our constitutional
rights including our right to say Jesus’ name in public. Instead, of voting out
of congress people who have failed to stand up for the religious rights of all
Americans, we are now adding more and more liberal and ungodly men and women in
Congress. We are even adding more and more Muslims to congress all in the name
of fairness and political correctness. Thus, we are sending wolves into the hen
house to destroy our Republic, because we have bought into the political lie
that Islam is a peaceful and caring religion. That is a blatant lie.
Islam is about taking over the world through aggression and Shira
law. Muslims have no intention of standing up for the constitution and
assimilating into our way of life. They will continue to lay low until the time
comes when they can rise up and change our nation through Shira law, and if
that fails then take it over through aggression. But we have only ourselves to
blame for what is happening to our nation. Why, because we have become
complacent and have turned the other cheek. We have succumbed to the
lies of political correctness and the new politically correct definitions for
other religions like that of Islam, thus giving them the time to grow and plan
as they lie in wait to overtake us. Moreover, we have refused to become
indignant with falsehoods and have refused to call the liberal media and the
liberals out on their lies and their thievery, because we have been taught to
view their sinfulness as just part of the political aspect of being Congress
people and of part of being in politics. Some people have turned the other
cheek so long that they no longer know the Truth even if it is right in front
of them. Or perhaps, we know the Truth within our hearts, but we do not want to
be politically incorrect by saying something against the lies that are being
told. How sad!
What do you think Christ would be doing if He were here on earth
at this present time? I believe He would be doing the same thing that He did
when He was here in the first century. He would be calling out the liars,
thieves, and murders, for what they have done and for what they continue to do
to hurt people, just as Christ called out the Sadducees and the Pharisees back
then. He would be stepping up and pointing out the dishonesty and the
ungodliness of these people and of the people who support them. For, wrong is
always wrong, no matter what century we are in.
Yes, when we stand up for the Truth we take a chance that we will
be hurt in some way or another, especially when we step forward with truthful
and godly words that others do not want to hear. But, we need to stand for
something, or we will fall for anything. That “anything” can be devastating too,
for it can lead to the destruction of our nation or to the destruction of our
right to express our belief in Jesus Christ and God. We must know, though, that
even when we are threatened, we need to stand up for Truth and honesty, but
above all we need to stand up for the Truth of God’s Word and the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. For Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must
deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ‘For whoever wishes to save
his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For
what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or
what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’” – (Matthew 16: 24-26. NASB).
Taking Up Our Cross
and Following Christ
What does this verse mean? Well, any time that we suffer in some
manner or another for identifying with Christ and for spreading the Gospel
message, we are taking up our cross for the Lord. In foreign countries, this
can mean that someone is persecuted or is actually killed for their belief in
Jesus Christ. For us here in America, it may not mean that we have been
persecuted or have been afflicted because of our belief in Christ, although we
are beginning to see this type of persecution happening more and more often.
We are now seeing this type of persecution happening with Christians who own
businesses and are then expected to put aside their religious beliefs in order
to not be sued or in order not to be shut down by the government
or by those who would decide to boycott them. But for most of us, the way that
we will suffer for Christ is only when we actually deny ourselves what we
really desire in order to do the will of God.
Some of Christians will deny themselves the comforts of America by
giving up their cushy lives in order to be missionaries in areas that take them
far away from home. Thus, they give up the luxuries that they may desire in
order to do the work of Christ. Others will give up lucrative careers in order
to do the work of God. Most of us, though, will at the very least have to give
up some of our leisure time in order to actively serve and mentor another for
the Lord. But all of the things that we give up in order to do work for the
Lord and in order to serve Him and others will come under the category of “taking up your cross to follow Christ”.
However, there will always be repercussions either personal or community wide
if we fail to step forward to serve and to do the will of God. One of those
repercussions could be the eternal death of someone for whom we failed to share
the Gospel message. Perhaps we failed to be there for someone who really needed
our help and they subsequently led a different life than they could have led.
Do you think about those people that you have failed to help?
Another way that we can take up our cross and follow Christ is to
stand up for what God has established as a godly nation. We may be abused for
telling the Truth, for contacting our representatives, and for contacting
newspapers about things that are not right in society, but if we do it in a
kind and caring way progress can be made. Remember, how Martin Luther King, Jr.
stood up to those who would put black people down. He was peaceful and always
looking for ways to use the Words of God to express the truth to those who
couldn’t see the truth for the blinders that they had on. This country had made
a lot of progress through the example of Martin Luther King Jr. But, when
Barack Obama came on the scene, people forgot the words of Martin Luther King
Jr. and again turned to violence and lies to get what they wanted. The
peacefulness and growth of our country was set back decades due to Obama. The
progress that Martin Luther King Jr. had made was overlooked when Obama came on
the scene with his ideas of black persecution and continual blame of the white people.
Again, we see the repercussions from blatant lies and deceit. No one, including
the media, spoke out against these falsehoods.
Christians cannot blame others for where we are in our country. We
must blame ourselves for not stepping up and standing up for the Truth.
Instead, of standing for the Truth, we have turned the other cheek and allowed
our country to slide down the steep slope into an ever-deepening valley of
political mud made up of a valueless society that exists on lies and the dreams
of the elite who wish to overtake our country and turn it into a communist
country. We are to blame for doing nothing.
Yes, we have to use the Bible and God’s words and the truth to
rebut the falsehoods perpetrated upon society. It isn’t easy, and one person
alone may not be able to do much to stop the progress of these propaganda
falsehoods. But if Christians constantly pray, God will hear us and the Holy
Spirit will guide us in how we are to speak the Truth. God will show us what
all Christians can do to save our nation. But, it all starts with learning to
love our neighbors as ourselves. We do not have to be belligerent, hateful,
vindictive, or mean when talking to others about our country or God. But, we do
have to speak up and tell the Truth. Otherwise, we will have nowhere to live
that is free and filled with love. We have to tell the true history of our
nation and not accept these made up watered down liberal versions of American history
that are now in our children’s school books. We also have to share the Gospel
message with others, and we have to do the will of God as directed by the Holy
Spirit.
Standing up for Christ
and the Gospel
Obviously, we know that standing up for Christ and the Gospel can
be dangerous, but doing nothing can be just as dangerous in the long run. The
disciples ended up being killed for the Gospel message that the authorities did
not want to hear about and did not want others to hear. Just as there were back
in the first century, there are Christians today throughout the world that are
being killed or harassed for their belief in Christ. Yet, we here in America
sit back with very little persecution at present. Unfortunately, we are still
willing to accept the possibility that socialism, or worse communism, will take
over the government of the United States by doing nothing to speak up for the Truth
about socialism and communism. Instead, we have to stop the college professors
glorified propaganda of socialism and communism by taking our children out of
those colleges or not paying for them to attend them in the first place. If we
do not do anything to stop the onward roll of lies and propaganda we will reap
what we have not sown; weeds which results in persecution. Indeed, the
insidious goals and agendas of the Universities and Government agencies to willingly
promote the lack of free speech by shutting down the opposing views of
conservatives or by shutting down those people who don’t adhere to what they
believe in results in the loss of many freedoms.
The first loss of freedom is the right of people to express
themselves, or our right to free speech. The next loss of freedom will be the
freedom of religion or the loss of our right to worship God and Jesus Christ.
Then the next loss of freedom will be the loss of the right of people to make a
living doing by doing what they want to do, as the government through socialism
and then communism will tell people what they have to do. If we do not want
these things to happen, we must rebut them with words and writings and through
what is left of the democratic process.
Sadly though, Christians who give great amounts of money to
certain educational institutions do not even pull their children from the
colleges and universities that have become liberal cesspools of propaganda and
who trample upon the constitution even when they realize that their children are
marching against their own hard fought for freedoms and especially against the
freedom of speech. Just as importantly, many Christians do not tell their
children that they cannot go to a liberal college for at least the first two
years of their college life so they can be grounded in the truth of a
conservative college first. Instead, most parents allow their children to
choose where they want to go college based upon where their friends are going
or based upon the fun times that they have heard that they can have at that
university.
There is another reason that certain parents will go into great
debt to send their child to a prestigious college or university. That reason is
the parent’s ever-present need for prestige and being able to tell others that
their child has graduated from some ivy league or prestigious college or
university. Unfortunately, most parents fail to think about the type of
education or type of professors that will be teaching/ brainwashing their
children before they agree to a particular college for their child. But it is very
important for Christians to think about and first pray about the college that they
will invest their money in for the education of their child. Christians should
also teach their child to pray to God for guidance in choosing the college that
will give them the best well-rounded education possible.
Christians have many choices to make when standing up for God and
for the truth. From where we go to church, to where we will send our children
to college the choices are enormous. Then we add to all to those choices the
decisions or lack of decisions that we make in regard to standing up for the Truth
in all aspects of life and in doing what is right for our nation, and the
choices can become overwhelming. This is where we should turn to God and do not
allow the devil to overwhelm us.
We are to pray for direction, guidance, and help. We are to ask
God how we can tell others the Truth, how we can stand up for the future of our
nation, how we can stand up for Christ, and what we can do to strengthen our
freedoms for now and for future generations. But we have to take the time to
pray. Then we have to take the time to do what God has shown us that we can do.
So, whether it is mentoring an acquaintance, sharing the Gospel with a
stranger, or writing to your congress people, we all have a responsibility to
serve God and His Kingdom every day. You
can do it! You can be that Christian mentor for others. You can be that
dedicated prayer warrior. You can stand up for the Truth in regard to our
country and in doing what is right. We just have to give up a little of our
leisure time for God, neighbors, friends, family, and country. You can become
an Active Relational Christian Mentor
and become a serving Christian!
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