GOD’S ORIGINAL INTENTION | CHAPTER TWO
Book One, God’s Original Intention, is available now on Amazon
... When Jesus taught us not to resist an evil person (Matthew 5:39), many Christians misunderstood His words. They thought Christians must always allow themselves to be trampled upon like a doormat — to become a road for others to walk over. But this is not what the Lord meant.
Jesus wants Christians to exercise patience in order to bear witness to others about salvation. He does not teach His children to become weak, feeble, and foolish so that people can freely exploit us and heap scorn on our faith in God. The children of the Almighty must not be timid, fearful, or hesitant (2 Timothy 1:7). With such a character, how can anyone truly bear witness for the Lord?
Many Christians have wrongly interpreted this teaching as a command to become sacrificial victims for humanity, objects for others to vent their anger on when they are depressed, or entertainment for the violent and for bullies. Since Jesus Christ has already died for all humanity, Christians do not need to fulfill that role again.
God’s children should exercise patience toward the wicked only when those people do not yet fully understand who we are. This kind of patience is meant to help them see that Christians are truly children of God, just as the early Christians responded to the persecution from Paul before he met the Lord on the road to Damascus (1 Timothy 1:13). Such patience is intended to bear witness to them (2 Timothy 2:25). It is not the patience of a coward, nor does it mean becoming a sacrificial victim for the sake of humanity. The Bible clearly states that cowards will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:8).
The Lord never commanded us to passively tolerate the wicked and allow them to harm others (Ephesians 5:11; 2 John 1:11). God’s command is for Christians to protect the weak, both spiritually and physically (Luke 4:19; Romans 15:1; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Ephesians 3:16, 6:10; 2 Timothy 2:1). If Christians simply endure evil without limit, who will stand up to protect women, children, the elderly, and other vulnerable people in society?
This world is full of evildoers. If God’s children remain spineless, weak, and cowardly, how can we bear witness to our Heavenly Father — the Almighty One? How can we demonstrate God’s justice to the world? How can we show that we reverence God and uphold His standards? If Christians tolerate the wicked — as many mistakenly believe they should — are we not actually encouraging and enabling evil deeds?
