I have read the piece in it's entirety, and I simply disagree with it.
So if they take your coat, Jesus says, give them your cloak as well. "Strip naked," as Wink puts it. Show them what the system is doing to you. Moreover, in that world, nakedness shamed the person who observed it.
I still think that what Jesus meant by this was that we are to lay down our lives for those that we love as well as those that we do not love.
He ends this story with these words:
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' lend to `sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
The message is:
LOVE your enemy
-not-
SHAME your enemy.
To me this is very clear.
I think those who try to twist the message to their own uses are decieved, and are playing with serious fire.
cAPSLOCK |
