Ever since Phil Robertson lit up the internet with his comments about homosexuality and up through the recent furor over the passage and veto of the Arizona “anti-gay” bill, I’ve read a lot from Christians about these issues. I’ve read a lot about Constitutional rights (sometimes well applied, sometimes less so). I’ve read a lot about freedom of religion. I’ve read good arguments from people whose rhetorical style I detest (see Matt Walsh) about how the Arizona bill and the court cases that prompted it (i.e. Hobby Lobby et al) issue has been grossly mischaracterized by the media and the culture and glosses over real oppression of Christians who do not want to participate in an action they find morally wrong (but who, tellingly, would serve gay people for any other service).
But there’s a perspective I haven’t seen, and it’s absence is troubling. It’s Jesus’ perspective (taken from Matthew 5):
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
I’m not sure if Jesus could be clearer. This isn’t one of those “you really have to understand Jewish culture blah blah blah to get what he’s saying” situations. If someone is oppressing you, you (follower of Jesus) ought to do more than they wanted in the first place. If someone sues you for your shirt, give him your (more valuable) cloak. If someone insults you, let them insult you more!
Those are beautiful, terrifying words. They’re impossible. Jesus spends zero time talking about religious liberty to a world of Jews aching for relief from heavy Roman rule. He spends zero time agitating against the (very real) oppression of the Jews. Instead, he tells his followers that if a Roman soldier demands that he walk a mile and carry the soldier’s heavy pack, he should carry it two miles!
Jesus did not say: “If the government impinges on your religious liberty, sue it!”
Jesus again:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I have not read any Christians rejoicing over their suffering at the hands of the government and the culture. I have not read Christians exhorting other Christians to rejoice in their suffering and oppression.
Back to Jesus. What did his first followers have to say (from Acts 5)?
They [the Jewish leaders at the Sanhedrin] called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
These guys were whipped, after being told not to talk about Jesus. In other words, the quasi-government at the time had these men physically beaten and told that they can’t talk about Jesus anymore. Was the apostles’ response to make convincing legal arguments for why they shouldn’t be beaten? Nope–they sang songs and thanked Jesus for the chance to be oppressed for him.
One of those guys later wrote a letter (1 Peter), where he said:
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
I don’t think I need to summarize or explain Peter’s point. But I don’t get it: why are no Christians saying this? Why hasn’t my Facebook feed blown up with Christians who are telling the other Christians who being oppressed to rejoice?
Instead, my Facebook feed is full of links about religious liberty, about how Christians are being oppressed in this country, and how the government (& the gay lobby) is attacking Christians. Maybe those things are true.
But Christians, let me ask you, when you read the Bible, do you see anything that looks like what you’re doing right now? Are there examples of apostles “standing up for their rights?” And then ask yourself, do the Bible’s many examples of people rejoicing over suffering and oppression look even a little bit like your life? Rejoicing under suffering is a big deal to Jesus, and it was a big deal to his early followers. Why doesn’t it seem to matter to you today, American Christian?
I’d love to hear from you (comment, e-mail, facebook, twitter).
Postscript: My claim that I haven’t read anything about Jesus and the second mile isn’t entirely true. Rachel Held Evans says pretty much everything I want to say here, but I’m going to say it anyway in hopes that a few more Christians might read it and think about it.
A Fitting Uncertainty 