Turn the other cheek

The Christian Dilemma

Turn the Other Cheek Or Get Even With the Beast?

Justice or Forgiveness?

If you’re like me, poetry turns you off. Nevertheless, I’ll be astounded if the following does not powerfully move you; inspiring you to prayerfully ponder an exceedingly important message. If you refuse to read poetry, there is prose you can read, but you’ll be poorer if you miss the following.

Even Better

Surely not!

He shamed you

And blamed you

And you want to . . . what?

Get even? Get a head!

How can you get ahead

If you only get even?

Don’t you know

That to get even

With an evildoer

Is to put yourself

On the level

Of an evildoer?

Isn’t it true

That even the heathen get even?

You don’t need me to say

If you’ve been born anew,

Seeded with God’s DNA;

More is required of you!

~:~

Surely you know

You reap what you sow;

That to win a fight

Is to lose your blood-bought right

To be raised high

And become God-like.

If we can rule our spirit,

We’ll rule forever;

If we give up

Judging people,

We’ll end up

Judging angels.

So why make God sigh?

Why act like a fool

When you can rule

With the Lord of all?

~:~

To act like the rest

Makes you part of the mess.

To be salt

Where there is no taste,

And be light

In a gloomy place,

We must be so unlike

The seething throng

Who as slaves are held

In the senseless grip

Of the need to fight

Wrong with wrong.

To act like others

Is to let them smother

Your light

And kill your fire

Until you are cold and dark,

Just like others.

~:~

How could you ever get even,

When in Acts you read of Stephen,

Who forgave while being stoned

And the Lord rose from his throne

To honor a forgiver

Whose love flowed as a river

That would never be stopped;

Who lived as a giver

Till the moment he dropped;

Only to be raised,

And for endless days,

Crowned with heavenly praise?

~:~

How do you know

If the one enjoying your fall

Could be moved by the scene

Like mean, despicable Saul

Who became the mighty apostle Paul?

He got even with Stephen.

Granted a new start,

Transformed from above,

He became like a dove

When whipped and stoned;

Knowing he was enthroned

With the One whose love

Now beat in his forgiven heart.

~:~

We could talk of David

And the other Saul –

How he won all

By not lifting a hand

Against the man

Plotting his fall.

Leaving vengeance undone

Kept David on the run

With the risk so real

That he would be killed.

Danger and dread

Dragged on for years

But despite the fears,

Deprivation and tears,

He lifted not his hand

And proved himself a man

After God’s own heart.

~:~

Could we grow strong,

By going on and on,

About saints

Who did not faint

In doing good

In the face of wrong?

Perhaps we could –

To a degree –

But it’s beyond our might

To consistently

Do right

When wronged.

~:~

We need a way

That’s better still;

That makes the supernatural real.

So lift your eyes even higher,

Through the clouds

Of heroes that inspire;

Go beyond human feats

Till your eyes meet

Your glorious Savior.

The One who forgave ya

Turned his cheek

And refused to speak

To save himself

From lies that kill.

In noble silence he stood,

Refusing to blame

Or even complain.

If he was a lamb,

Where was the bleating?

They hit him hard,

But couldn’t beat him.

They made him bleed

But couldn’t defeat him.

They did their worst,

But instead of a curse,

He forgave.

Their hate turned to rage,

They ranted and raved,

They stripped him and spat

But still he forgave.

They were beasts,

He was a dove.

They ripped him apart;

And out came love.

Blow upon blow

They nailed him to wood,

Spilling more blood;

Doing all they could

To bring him low.

Yet still he loved,

Soaring above

The shame and blame

And roaring pain;

Defeating evil with good.

By this was the Lord from above

Made worthy to reign.

~:~

Let’s not fail

To follow the trail

That Jesus blazed.

How tragic it would be

To miss our destiny,

Yet we will suffer this shame

Forever,

Unless we face the pain

That never lasts,

And fill our days

With Christ’s ways.

~:~

There’s no better way

To make the devil’s day

Than to fight for right

The wrong way.

There’s no greater way

To multiply evil

Than to try to stop evil

By acting like the devil.

When you come against sin

In the lives of others,

You either act like the Son

Or the devil has won

Before you even start.

Yes, the devil wins,

He’s got you by the heart,

If in fighting wrong,

You act like him.

~:~

Sweating blood in agony,

Jesus refused the cowardly way.

The devil lost at Gethsemane

But still the devil can grin:

If we don’t love our enemies

We’ve become like him

In blackening Christ’s name.

It’s as the sin of blasphemy

To use God’s name

And return

Anger for anger,

Sin for sin.

~:~

Get even?

Yes, get even

More like Christ.

He has led the way;

Will you follow?

Will you cease

To shamefully wallow

In thoughts that kill,

And join the Prince of Peace

Impaled upon the hill?

The blameless way

And the painless way

Never cross.

The way that skirts pain,

Flirts with shame

And ends in loss.

Though the Christlike way

Seems doomed

To fail,

There’s a twist

To the tale;

The Christless way

Is to fume

And fight for all they’re worth,

But it’s the meek

Who inherit the earth.

To greet hate with love

Seems extreme,

Yet every other way

Is to fight a wildfire

With gasoline.

You end darkness

With light,

Not more darkness.

You fight

Bitterness with sweetness;

Cruelty with kindness;

Hate with love.

That takes real courage,

But we who live by faith,

Know faith and courage

Go hand in glove.

~:~

To this you are called:

To be like Christ,

Who laid down his life

To forgive

Those who give

Him pain.

The way to reign

Is to be the same

As Christ,

Who sacrificed

To bless those who cursed

And did their worst

To break him.

This is the way to endless gain;

The path to eternal glory.

~:~

We’ve looked beyond

Human copies

Who outshone

Those who wronged

Them.

We’ve soared above

Those who had it tough,

Till we reached the One

Uniquely pure,

Treated as the world’s sewer;

We’ve looked at the One

From above

Whose love

Outshines the sun.

We’ve been inspired

By what transpired

When even in the throes

Of death

He loved and sacrificed

His all for those

Who didn’t care.

But when things get tough,

Will it be enough

Merely to look

At the One who loved

Till his last breath?

When the going gets rough,

Being moved

By the scene

Of Christ

Giving his life

Will not be enough

To make us love

Like the Crucified.

To sacrifice like Christ

Will seem

An idle dream,

A hope that’s hollow,

Until pride is swallowed

And Christ is seen

Not as things to do

Or an ideal to follow

But as the Lord of all

Who must live his life in you.

~:~

For strife to cease

A new life must start,

With the Prince of peace

Enthroned as king.

As without the vine

A branch is just dead wood,

So are we without our Lord.

To smother evil with good

You must tap

Into infinite love.

To do what’s right

And never bend,

Takes a friend

From above;

Who not only inspires

But never tires

Of lifting you higher

Than you could ever go.

For bitterness to end

And sweetness to flow,

Takes oneness with the divine

As perfect as a branch in a vine.

~:~

Imagine if you and he

Could spend

From now to eternity

With hearts beating as one.

There’d be no end

To what you could do

If Christ could live

His life in you,

But he is the Sinless One,

So fearsomely holy,

That we could sooner

Have the sun inside us

Than have the Son inside us.

To be pure as he is pure

Is to be cleansed by the sacrifice,

Of the sinless Christ.

Then he can live in you,

Doing what you could never do.

~:~

Through the price he paid

The commands of Christ

Can now be obeyed.

With him in you,

You can do

What he tells you to.

With Christ in you,

His hardest commands

Are more than demands

Or pie in the sky;

They are his promise

Of power from on high

To do what you could never do.

“Impossible”

Becomes “him possible.”

The “ideal”

Becomes so real

That people will gasp

And angels applaud

What you and the Lord

Together will do.

~:~

This does not mean

An end to pain;

Christ will lead you

Through the flame;

He’ll take you to the cross,

Where, like him,

You’ll suffer shame

And temporary loss,

To win eternal fame.

~:~

To turn the other cheek

Or wash your enemy’s feet;

To quench the thirst

Of those who curse;

To be a lamb

To vicious wolves,

Is not just to fight

Wrong with right;

It is to suffer for Christ.

And to suffer for Christ,

Is to suffer with Christ.

There’s nothing so intimate

As to feel

Someone’s pain.

Anyone can give an offering

But to share in Christ’s suffering

Takes you to a realm

That makes love real.

Those who for this hour

Bear Christ’s pain

Will forever

Share his reign.

~:~

So patiently wait,

For the coming

Of perfect justice.

Return love for hate,

Be kind to the cruel,

Treat foes as friends

And in the end

You shall rule

With the Lord of all.

~:~

The time will come

When like the sun,

Justice will rise

On a New Day

When God’s perfect way

Is always done;

A Day of surprise

For everyone;

As each receives his prize

That never ends;

A prize as unique

As his fingerprint.

It’s a Day to be cheered

Or greatly feared;

When some are raised

And some are razed,

But all are dazed

By how their ways

In earthly days

Meet rewards

That last always.

Come the Day

When every wrong

Is brought to light;

When every wrong

Will bow to right;

When wrong will end

And right will reign.

~:~

So lift your eyes

And soar beyond the skies.

See yourself

Seated with Christ

Who with his life

Paid the price

To forgive his haters.

Lift your sights

To these heights

And become like your Maker.

Raise those eyes

And boldly rise

To your heavenly call;

Take Christ’s hand

And conquer all.

Related Pages

Christian Revenge and the Wrath of God

The Righteous Lust for Vengeance God’s commitment to pay the price of justice

Where was God When You suffered Unspeakable Horrors?

God Isn’t fair? How could God be fair when some get an abundance and some get a raw deal?

Hints for Public Reading

The poem contains plays on words that the eye can detect, but not the ear. The following suggestions will remove that difficulty.

For the line:

Get even? Get a head!

Tap your head with your finger when saying “Get a head!”

For the lines:

Have the sun inside us

Than have the Son inside us.

Don’t say the word sun or Son at all. Simply spell those words:

Have the S-U-N inside us

Than have the S-O-N inside us.

Replace:

When some are raised

And some are razed,

With:

When some are praised

And some are fazed