Words from WW Blog

“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.” (Matthew 5:38-40)

Sometimes when I’m out for a walk, I listen to Andy Stanley’s sermons. Recently, he was doing a message on underreacting to overreactions. He asked the question, “What irritates you?” and then suggested that the question be asked again through the eyes of Jesus.

Uh-oh!

It got me thinking and cringing about the results. For example, reality TV irritates me, or as I like to call it, “Lack of Reality TV”. How would Jesus react? Thinking of scripture, I think Jesus would point us toward the Kingdom of God…“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” The priorities and the drama of this world are not the priorities of Kingdom people.

I thought about the other things in life that cause me to grind my teeth: college athletics transfer portal, helicopter parents, Christians who are so narrow-minded they won’t even drink root beer, a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle with 999 pieces, scam calls, dogs that bark at nothing for an hour at a time (in the backyard behind our backyard), and speeding motorcyclists who zig-zag through traffic like they’re going down a slalom ski course.

But how would Jesus react? It seems that Jesus only got stern and confrontational with the most religious people of His day. For most of the irritating items on my list, I’m afraid He would tell me to get over them. The realization of that fact grinds at me but also brings me back to the fact that I live in a fallen creation and I’M one of the fallen creatures. I pick my nose when no one is looking and edge up my speedometer when it suits me. I also have a way of justifying myself like it’s a protective shield around my fragile ego. I don’t like to ask the question, “How do I irritate Jesus?”

Our hunger to look perfect and think of ourselves as perfect needs to kneel in the shadow of the cross. It is only in that slim place of darkness that we can truly see who we are and rejoice in the saving grace of God.

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This entry was posted on January 4, 2024 at 3:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Bible, bible-study, God, Jesus, kingdom-of-god

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