Turn the other cheek?

I’ve watched several Western movies over the years where a preacher man is roughed up by the bad guys and initially refuses to fight back. In most of these films, the preacher was once an outlaw himself. There’s something about being called ‘yellow’ that causes mild-mannered men of the cloth to snap.

“The Quick and the Dead,” starring Russell Crowe, is a great example. Russell Crowe plays Cort, a former outlaw who’s become a preacher. The film mentions “turn the other cheek,” and I’ve heard that phrase since my earliest church days. Cort turns the cheek several times before he starts to resemble uncooked beef tenderloins.

The first time I met my friend, Jeff Thimsen, he was fighting a guy twice his size in the hallway of East High School. Jeff had the fellow down on the floor in a ‘full nelson’, an illegal wrestling move for those wondering. The fracas ended before Jeff broke the guy’s neck.

Thimsen is the son of an Alaska missionary and had lived many years in Native villages. He learned to protect himself, because some of the kids born in these rural places automatically developed a dislike for white boys. Had he not learned to fight back, he would’ve been reduced to cube steak before third grade.

I believe it was my friend, Bob Malone, who jokingly coined the phrase, “Turn the other cheek and use your feet.” I had to use this philosophy one time in Hawaii, and it thankfully worked on a much larger individual.

Matthew 5:38–39 says, “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.”

I’ll be the first to say that I never heeded the latter part of that message, at least not in school. If someone was out to harm me, there was no way I was about to stand there and take it. That’s like repeatedly sticking a screwdriver into an electrical outlet just to feel the jolt.

Dad and Mom gave me a side lesson to this verse. Their instructions to my brother and me were, “Don’t let people walk all over you!” Some might say that goes against God’s teachings, but what my parents meant was to be prepared if someone’s out to harm you.

In Luke 22:35–36, Jesus tells his disciples that if they don’t have a cloak, they should sell it and buy a sword, indicating an acceptance of personal readiness and protection. I don’t have a cloak, yet I’d much rather have a svelte Smith & Wesson than a cumbersome sword these days.

In this day of Islamic extremism, which has been going on for thousands of years in the Middle East, Christians are being singled out to be used as sacrificial lambs. In some places, believers in Jesus Christ are being slaughtered because of their ideology.

Without question, we’re already seeing that happen in this country with Muslim zealots. I can recount case after case, although the mainstream media is afraid to mention it. In my mind, it’s highly doubtful that God intends for us to turn the other cheek in these deadly encounters.

In closing, not only did God gave me valuable Bible lessons to follow, but he blessed me with common sense and open eyes to see what’s going on around me.