Must Christians Always Turn the Other Cheek?

Jesus said, If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

But does that mean Christians should always be pacifists in the face of physical violence, or can we practice self-defense? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

You can also post your question on our Facebook or Instagram accounts, or you can email us with your question at questions-at-core-christianity.com. Well, lots of people are tightening up their budgets this year because of COVID, even millionaires. Shahid Khan, the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, is in the same boat, and he's selling his yacht. The yacht, named Kismet, is available for the low, low price of $199 million. The 300-foot luxury ship includes eight staterooms that can sleep 16, a helipad, a sundak, a swimming pool, a full-service spa, and a one-of-a-kind outdoor fireplace. Adriel, I know your wife has always wanted her own yacht, so what do you think? She actually hasn't.

She does not like getting on the water at all because her stomach doesn't feel so great. Otherwise, I would really consider it. I mean, $199 million.

That sounds like a good deal to me. Yeah, it really does. When you said that number, I thought you were going to say $199,000. I can't even imagine. I didn't even know boats cost that much money. Wow.

You do not want to hit the dock with that, baby. No, sirree. All right, well, let's get to our first question of the day. One of our listeners posted this on our Instagram account, and they say, hi, I'd like to know how to answer objections against the supposed violence in the Old Testament. Well, thank you for that question, and I've heard these objections before. There was a group called the New Atheists for a while, and guys like Richard Dawkins and others who were actually raising this very objection. They would talk about the quote-unquote God of the Old Testament being cruel and commanding the extermination of the Canaanites and so on and so forth. And there are a lot of people that will try to pit God as he's revealed himself to us in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant with what we see in the New Testament. God in the Old Testament seemed cruel and judgmental, and then Jesus showed up, and he's talking about loving one another and all of these things.

And so there are really a couple of questions here. One, what do we do with the violence in the Old Testament? And two, under the New Covenant in the New Testament, did God change? Well, first, a while ago I preached through the book of Leviticus, and one of the things that was so striking about that book is the blood. There's a lot of bloodshed in the book of Leviticus, and the reason is because the author of the Hebrew says without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Sin demands death. The result of sin is death, and sometimes God brings about his judgment in a severe way against the enemies of the truth, those who reject him, those who are plunging headlong into sin and death, and that's one of the things that you see in the Old Testament.

These judgments that are brought against sometimes the pagan nation, sometimes even God's own people, where God judges them, and there's bloodshed. And I think part of the reason that that's so difficult for us many times is because we don't have a high view of God and his holiness, and we have a very low view of our sin. We think, yeah, sin is not that bad.

It doesn't deserve death. Well, scripture makes it very clear. The wages of sin is death, and so I think that's one of the things that we see in the Old Testament. With all of the blood, with all of the bloodshed, it's highlighting for us the reality of sin. And in our culture that's downplayed and minimized sin so much, I think it's jarring. Now, in the New Testament, you really don't have anything different.

Yes, Jesus came preaching peace, the gospel, good news, the forgiveness of sins, but at the same time, he's coming back to judge the world. The book of Revelation at one point depicts Jesus as clothed in a robe dipped in blood. Now, in the context there, I remember when I first read that passage in the book of Revelation where it talks about Jesus being clothed in this robe dipped in blood, and I just assumed, well, that's his blood. He died on the cross, the blood that he shed for us, but it's echoing the book of Isaiah, and it's the blood of his enemies. Jesus is clothed in a robe dipped in the blood of his enemies. The imagery there is that he's trampled upon his enemies because he's just and holy and righteous. God stands against sin, your sin, my sin. Now, the good news of the gospel is that what God has done to redeem us is he's taken our sins upon himself. Jesus assumed humanity so that he might bear our sins and our curse. Paul says this very clearly in the book of Galatians so that at the cross, what we see there, I mean, this is violence.

Talk about violence if we ever saw it. At the cross, we see violence done against God himself. He's enduring it in our place for us, for our sins, so that we might be justified and forgiven. But if we reject the gospel, if we turn away from Jesus, if we shake our fist at heaven, well, we should be warned. You know, the book of Revelation is very clear. God is going to judge the world, and he is, even today, executing his judgments in the world. And I think that's another thing that we see with these stories in the Old Testament, with the violence in the Old Testament. It's as if God is not restraining his judgment anymore. He's letting it intrude upon the enemies of his word, the enemies of his truth.

He's saying, okay, fine, I'm bringing the judgment here and now. And I think that's one of the things that's happening in the Old Testament. When you have these scenes of divine judgment, of the extermination of the enemies of God in the land, in Canaan, for example, well, it's this picture of the intrusion of God's final judgment upon the enemies of God. And we can be thankful that right now we're living in this age of grace, where God is extending his mercy and his goodness to us. But there is coming a day, we're told in Scripture, where the whole world is going to stand before God judged, and where there's going to be no more time for repentance, no more time for turning back to the Lord.

And that's why we preach the gospel now and extend to people the hope of salvation now, because God commands all people everywhere to repent, as the Scriptures say. You know, Adriel, some people may ask, why is God withholding his judgment now against those that are so opposed to his will in this world? Because we are seeing so many really evil, terrible things, and yet we don't see any kind of retribution from God.

How do we explain that? It's a really good question. You know, in the book of Romans, it says that God is storing up wrath for the day of wrath. You think about people who commit these heinous crimes, who do things that are just absolutely horrible, and they don't experience any judgment. Justice doesn't seem to come to them. You just think, gosh, God, what are you doing?

What's happening? Well, we can honestly say God, for some, is storing up wrath for the day of wrath, that they're not going to be let off the hook. And so, I mean, it really is a sobering reality, but that's one of the things that the Scripture says. But here's another thing that the Scripture makes absolutely clear, and it's what Peter said in 2 Peter, referring to the day of the Lord. He says, Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you. Now, let me just stop right there, Bill, and say to you listening right now, and you know you're living your life in a way that's not honoring to the Lord. Maybe you used to go to church, and you stopped going to church, and you stopped walking with Jesus.

You just thought, you know what, I'm going to do my own thing for a while. Listen very closely to what Peter is saying. The Lord is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. You see, why is it that God tarries? Well, one of the things that Peter says very clearly is God is extending his kindness, his patience toward you so that you might turn to him and receive the grace that is extended to you in his son Jesus. And if you've been turning away from him, denying the truth, rejecting Jesus, let me just plead with you right now. God is patient. He's calling you to himself, but there is coming a day where it will be too late. And that's something that the scriptures make absolutely clear, and so today is the day of salvation turned to him.

Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and we'd love to receive your questions about the Bible and the Christian life. Here's the number to call. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Good afternoon, gentlemen.

This is Duncan from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I have a question relating to the role of deacons and elders in the church. Time after time, I've asked people questions, but no one has given me a satisfactory answer. Do elders have to be married people? In other words, can you be single and still be an elder or deacon in a church? I would greatly appreciate it if you could shed some light on this.

Thank you. Hey, thank you for that question, Duncan, and a really important question because the role of elders and deacons in the life of the church is so important. It's a part of the government that was established for the church by the apostles. And you see this in places like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. It was certainly important to the apostle Paul who, you know, he would plant these churches and he would go and make sure that there were solid elders that were there in place in those churches who would be able to pass down the faith once for all delivered to the saints. By having good elders and good deacons in the church, so important, so important. And in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1, Paul talks about the qualifications for elders and deacons.

And let me just say one thing. Oftentimes when we think about these positions in the church, we immediately think about giftedness. Can this person preach? Are they a gifted communicator?

Can they keep people's attention? And I think that's important. That's one of the things for elders that's listed. They need to be able to teach. But there really is so much more there in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1 as well.

Let me just read. Here are the qualifications for overseers according to the apostle Paul. 1 Timothy 3 beginning in verse 1.

The saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. You have competency. They need to be able to teach, but you also have other things like character.

Is this person above reproach? Do they manage their own household well, their children well? Now, you could even say, and some people might say, an elder has to also have children on the basis of that verse.

Now, I don't think that my answer to your question is no. I don't believe that elders and deacons have to be married people in order to be elders and deacons. I think what Paul is getting at in those passages of Scripture in particular is that if they're married with the family, the way they rule their family can qualify or disqualify them for the ministry, and so it's one of the things that should be under inspection, if you will, as we're considering ordaining elders in the life of the church.

It really is so important. As I said, we oftentimes go straight to giftedness, but then we don't think about these other things, things that Paul viewed as very important. Now, in another place, in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul seems to encourage singleness in the life of the church. I think that this is really an important point for us to make, because I think sometimes we can treat people who are single in the church as if they are less than.

You're really going to be complete once you find a spouse, and until then, you're sort of on the outside. But the fact of the matter is, just because you're single doesn't mean you're necessarily missing something. I mean, the fact of the matter is you were created in the image of God, and singleness is also described as a gift, as a calling that God gives to some people, and I think that that's something that we minimize a lot of times in our context. And so Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, seemed to encourage some of the Corinthians to remain single, because he said it would help to secure their undivided attention for the Lord. And so, I don't believe that on the basis of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, elders and deacons have to be married or have to have children.

I think that we can look at other passages of Scripture that indicate that that's not necessarily the case, and certainly think of men like the Apostle Paul and others who weren't married as they were doing their ministry. And so Duncan, that's my answer for you, and I appreciate the phone call. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and today we are offering one of our popular audio resources. It's one that we know you will find helpful.

Yeah, thanks, Bill. Today we're excited to share an audio resource on corechristianity.com called Finding Yourself in God's Story. We do receive a lot of questions that essentially boil down to this. What does the Bible story mean for me today? Think about it in your own life. How does the Bible, the story of God throughout redemptive history, impact your day-to-day living? Well, in this teaching series, you're going to join our good friends Michael Horton and Nancy Guthrie as they help you to explore God's great plan and grand design that includes all of creation, including you and me. So head over to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to download Finding Yourself in God's Story. You can also call us for that resource at 833-843-2673. That's 833-the-core. Adriel, here's a question that came in through our Facebook page from Fabrice. She says, Hello, Adriel and Bill. My question is, what would you say to a Christian who's been waiting years for an answer to a specific prayer about pain and suffering?

I know about verses like Romans 12, 12, Psalm 27, 14, Isaiah 40, 31, etc. I know that Job probably suffered for years before his trials came to an end, but I just don't know. Personally, it's been five years and I'm still waiting. Forgive me if I sound selfish or spoiled. Thanks. No, Fabrice, I don't think that you sound selfish or spoiled, and I think especially in the midst of suffering, as you say, that's the cry of God's people. And so what I want to do right now is pray for you and just ask for the Lord to pour his mercy out upon you and to guide you and to give you the answer that you long for.

And who knows what that answer is, but the Lord would open up the scriptures to you and give you a peace. So, Father, I pray for Fabrice and I ask, Lord, for the grace of your Holy Spirit to be poured out upon her, Lord, in the midst of the suffering that she's experiencing. Would you give her comfort?

Would you give her hope? And would you give her guidance, Lord, through the scriptures, through your word, that she would be able to cling to the promises in your word? Lord, to have a sense of peace, even in the midst of this trial that you've brought to her. And I pray, God, five years in, I pray for perseverance, for endurance, that you would give her hope, that you would give her strength to continue, Lord, to look to you and to trust in you in the midst of these circumstances. So be with her, bless her, and encourage her now, I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. A lot of passages of scripture come to mind, and I think of Jesus' compassion upon those who were suffering and had suffered for a very long time. I think initially of the woman with the issue of blood in the Gospel of Mark. She has this hemorrhage that she's been having for 12 years, and we're told in Mark's Gospel that she had basically done everything that she could to get better. She'd gone to all these different people, physicians, and she only grew worse. And the end result actually was that she had lost everything that she had.

She spent all her money trying to get better, and yet she only grew worse, we're told in Mark chapter 5. And yet she cried out to the Lord Jesus, she ran to Him, and she laid hold of His garments, and she was healed after 12 years of suffering. It just shows me that Jesus is compassionate, that He's full of love and mercy and healing. Now that doesn't mean that He heals everyone, at least not necessarily in our timing. We do have the hope that one day our bodies are going to be raised and we're going to be made perfectly whole, and that the sufferings we experience now in this present world are going to be done away with.

So yes, we are all going to be healed, but we don't know if God is going to bring in healing right now in our present circumstances. But I can tell you that God is gracious, that He hears your prayer. I think of Luke 18 verse 7, and will not God give justice to His elect who cried to Him day and night?

Sounds like that's what you've been doing. The other text of scripture that I think of in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, beginning in verse 6, he says, Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth, but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me, but the Lord said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Now look, Fabrice, I don't know the suffering that you're experiencing specifically. I know, as I shared with that story, you know, Jesus and the woman with the issue of blood, I know that He is compassionate, and I know that healing is promised to us one day, for all of us in Christ, on the last day. But I also know, and I want you to know, even in the midst of these difficulties, God is still at work in you, and that He's able, according to scripture, Romans chapter 8, to make all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. And I think that's what Paul is getting at there in that passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 as well, and so I'm not saying pull yourself up by your bootstraps or, you know, God is just going to use this suffering, so get over, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to minimize the suffering that you're experiencing at all, but I want you to hope in your Savior, who's able to use these circumstances, whatever they are, for His glory and your good, who cares about you, who loves you, who knows what is best for each of us, and sometimes it's hard for us to understand why God allows certain things in our lives, but you can trust Him because He's given Himself for you. And so you can go to Him and rest in Him and experience His grace and mercy.

God is still good in the midst of it, and you can put your hope in Him, and you can trust that somehow He's able to work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. God bless you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We have time for one more question.

This one came in through our Instagram account. This person says, I ran across this question the other day. Are Christians always meant to be pacifists? Do we have the ability to defend ourselves from physical violence, or must we always turn the other cheek? Yeah, thank you for this question.

It really is a complex question. First, as Christians, we do endure persecution for the gospel's sake. This is something you see all over the New Testament, but it's not the church's job to create a militia to fight back against people who are persecuting us or trying to take our rights. I mean, you just look at the book of Acts, and it seems like the disciples rejoiced when they suffered persecution. They were imitators of Jesus. They didn't fight back. They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the gospel. And so I think if we're suffering for the gospel's sake, if we're being persecuted for our faith in Jesus Christ, we don't defend ourselves in the way that people may be tempted to.

We don't fight back. But not every act of violence is an act of persecution against the church. There are God-instituted structures for helping to stop violence even, like the government. You think about Romans chapter 12, where it talks about the fact that the government bears the sword. It punishes evildoers.

You think about police officers and soldiers. And so I don't think we can just give this sort of blanket, you know, everybody is supposed to be a pacifist, or we're supposed to respond to violence in the same way. When it's violence against the church because of preaching the gospel, well, we humbly respond by praising the Lord and by suffering with Jesus for the testimony that we have. Are there other instances where it's permissible for a Christian to defend their family if somebody breaks into your house or something like that? Well, yeah, I think so, because you're not in that context suffering for the gospel's sake. You're defending your family. It has nothing to do with persecution, and so I think it is okay for us to defend ourselves. Thank you for that question. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast, and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.