Why do we have to turn our left cheek when others strike our right cheek? When the Lord grants us sufferings through man’s hand, we should rather enhance His work than annul His work. This is why we turn our left cheek. The Lord is using man’s hand to enlarge our capacity and to help us grow. The hand stops at the right cheek. But we can add our left cheek. This means that we do not react by frustrating the Lord’s work through man’s hand. On the contrary, we further this work. The Lord is striking us, and we also strike ourselves. The Lord is dealing with us, and we also deal with ourselves. When others strike our right cheek, we join in to strike ourselves. We do not stand with ourselves to oppose our attacker. On the contrary, we stand with our attacker. One strike is not enough; we need more striking. The Lord is dealing with us, and we are also dealing with ourselves.
The Lord’s hand is on me, and my prayer is for His hand to remain there. If I lose everything, I have nothing more to lose. If I die completely, I cannot die any further. If I can still die, it means I have not died enough. If I can still lose, it means I have not lost enough. I want the Lord’s hand to be heavier on me. I do not want to reduce the weight of His hand upon me.
If you can stand on the Lord’s side and deal with yourself this way, you will have no grudge against anyone. Man’s demand can never be higher than the Lord’s. Man’s demand is, at most, one mile. The Lord’s demand is the second mile. The most that man can do is force you to go a mile. But you can give him more; you can add something to it. You can do your best to enhance what the Lord has already done.
Let me ask you another question: Is it better to be the one who strikes or the one who is struck? Do you envy others? Others are striking. Are you going to do the same? Those who strike are not acting like Christians, and those who endure others’ striking are not acting like Christians either. Only those who take the striking willingly and who turn their left cheek to their strikers, saying, “Please do more,” are acting like Christians.
Today if a brother strikes you, do you know what he has given you? He has given you the greatest opportunity to be a good Christian. He honors you by striking you, having offered you the opportunity to be a proper Christian.
Please remember that a Christian who strikes others has lost his Christian dignity. We should not envy those who have lost their Christian standing. Every time you are mistreated or are threatened, you are given the opportunity to live the Christian life. In fact, those who treat you this way are saying, “So-and-so, I no longer want to be a Christian. I will let you be a Christian in my place!” Their actions are equivalent to this.
If a brother takes you to court or demands money or clothing from you, he is, in effect, saying, “Today I do not want to be a Christian. I will let you be one in my place!” He has resigned from the position of a Christian and put you in his position instead. Should you not thank God for this? You need to say, “O God! I thank You and praise You. You have put me in the position of a Christian. This is truly Your grace.” Brothers and sisters, we should learn to strive for our Christian standing.
Once, I had some business dealings with a brother. By common understanding, I did not owe him any money, but he demanded perhaps sixty-eight thousand dollars from me. My first reaction was to be angry. I felt that he did not have the slightest ground to ask for it. How could this man be a Christian? He was too much. If he had any sense of righteousness, how could he want this money? But my next reaction was that of joy. Although he was wrong, I still enjoyed giving it to him. I asked him, “Brother, do you really want it?” He said, “Yes.” At that moment, the Lord put this word in me: “This man is giving you the opportunity to be a Christian.” This was the first time the Lord spoke such a word to me. I said, “That is right,” and went away to prepare the money for him.
From that day on, I learned this lesson. When a person behaves the way this man did, he is giving up his position as a Christian. When a person does this to us, what a shame and pity it is if we also resign from our Christian standing. We should learn to say, “The Lord has put me here, and He is giving me the opportunity to live as a Christian.” We should say, “Lord, I want to be a Christian.” No loss is greater than the loss of our Christian standing. To be struck is a great loss; to lose our possessions is also a great loss; and to be put to shame and deprived of freedom are even greater losses, but the Lord has entrusted us with the responsibility of expressing His grace and forbearance. If we fail in this, we have suffered the greatest loss.
Some may think that the strong ones are those who can strike others. But I say that the ones who are really strong are those who can afford to be struck and not strike back. A person who cannot control his own temper is a weak person. A strong person is one who can control his own temper. We need to know how to evaluate things spiritually before God. We should not evaluate things according to the worldly way. We should not hold to worldly views. We need to have a spiritual view.
I hope that new believers will see what our Christian reactions should be from the very beginning. We should set this course right from the start. Do not allow three, five, eight, or ten years to go by before taking this way. Do not think that the teaching on the mount is that profound. No Christian should wait a long time before picking up the teaching on the mount. The teaching on the mount should be the first teaching. It should be something one finds at the main entrance, not something he sees after years of advancement. The teaching on the mount is the fundamental Christian response to everything. It is the reaction that issues from our Christian nature. When a person believes in the Lord Jesus, he spontaneously reacts this way and behaves this way. Walking the second mile results in joy in the heart. A person cannot have real peace and joy until he practices this. This life calls for persecution, disgrace, and mistreatment. The more severe the persecution, the stronger the manifestation of the power of God’s life.