“Turning the other cheek without bearing witness to the truth is not the fruit of moral resolution but the terrorized cowardice of the wimp.” –D.A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, p. 585
I often think of those who fail to speak up against mean-spiritedness in any form for any reason against any group of people.
It’s one thing to take a stand against sin, or against a point of view. But what is going on these days is more than that … and the people doing it have been called out as ‘bullies’ and hypocrites. Bullies? They are ‘wimps’ at heart, who abuse when they can get away with it and when they are in a terrorized crowd who will let them do it.
I wonder if Carson has considered that bearing the other cheek *is* giving witness to the truth, that is, a response of self-sacrificing love in the face of evil as advocated here I this passage (and elsewhere) and modeled by Christ on the cross.
5 Comments
yankeegospelgirl
A-a-amen. (Aw, sing it with me children…)
Christianes
Terrorized cowardice of the wimp:
I often think of those who fail to speak up against mean-spiritedness in any form for any reason against any group of people.
It’s one thing to take a stand against sin, or against a point of view. But what is going on these days is more than that … and the people doing it have been called out as ‘bullies’ and hypocrites. Bullies? They are ‘wimps’ at heart, who abuse when they can get away with it and when they are in a terrorized crowd who will let them do it.
yankeegospelgirl
Have you ever noticed how often men like John Piper and Paul Washer weep while delivering their “mean-spirited” messages? Funny, that.
Charles
I wonder if Carson has considered that bearing the other cheek *is* giving witness to the truth, that is, a response of self-sacrificing love in the face of evil as advocated here I this passage (and elsewhere) and modeled by Christ on the cross.
Sue
Thanks for this. I hope this is for me, and explains why I won’t give up bearing witness to the truth.