This twisting is usually done in an attempt to justify a position which cannot be justified.
Here is an example. The person who argued this is a good man. He, I am convinced, believes that he is right and his position is reflected and approved by the vast majority. I am equally convinced that he is wrong.
We were talking and I brought up Jesus' clearly stated instructions:
" Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whoso ever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate yo u, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
Clearly stated. No question in my mind. Straight from Jesus.
My friend proposes to get his gun and shoot the bad guy who has come to rob him. Period. Shoot him down like a dog.
Okay, I might do the same. I'm human and I make mistakes. I have schooled myself for years to do exactly what he prescribes. Clearly, though, we would both be in error. We would be intentionally ignoring a specific command, delivered to us from the mouth of Jesus.
No room for confusion. He makes it VERY clear. Hard to do but easy to understand.
My friend, being a good Baptist, found himself needing a justification for ignoring Jesus and doing what he himself would prefer. So he turned to the scriptures.
"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
This, to him, justifies his bloody intent. One line in the middle of a parable, the point of which is that we do not know the hour when our Lord (the Prince of Peace) will come.
Now he asks that we set aside the clear and simply stated commands of our Lord and Savior and he justifies that with this line from this parable.
Dear friend, Jesus was very clear in His intent. We are to love our neighbors. And further than that, we are to love our enemies. Shooting them is not an act of love.
Did He, in His parable, say that the goodman should harm the thief? No. He simply says that the goodman would not suffer his house to be broken up. Well, one might well think that, had the goodman known the thief's plan, he would have been awake, with the lights and TV on. In most cases, I would think that would be action enough. I would think that most (not all, but most) thieves would go elsewhere on seeing that they would have to face the goodman of the house.
Again, he did NOT say that the goodman should harm the thief.
So, what should the goodman do? Well, I feel like he should call the law. Call the law, let them handle the matter and then make it his business to love the thief. Perhaps he might even go to visit him and to show him, by word and deed, the error of his ways. Perhaps he ought to try to find a way to help.
Now, understand, I am NOT taking my friend to task. I am using his reaction to point out the lengths to which we go to fool ourselves.
I am a man schooled in violence. And I am a man who has practiced it for many years. I'm good at it – and I enjoy it. But I am now a disciple of the Christ and He wants me to go another way. He wants for me to put my trust in Him. I pray that He will help me to be the man He wants for me to be.
And I will take His simple words the way they are rather than trying to make them the way my evil nature would prefer for them to be.
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