I saw this Facebook blog where a woman was in the drive-thru lane of a restaurant and did not pull forward at the right time, because she was leaning over and trying to help her daughter find something that she dropped. Her lack of pulling forward promptly caused the person behind her to yell and honk her horn and raise her hands and otherwise have a complete meltdown.
The woman in the front car wanted to get out and karate chop the woman behind her in the throat, but she decided on a different course of action. She proceeded to pull forward and pay the bill for the woman behind her.
Explaining her actions and the undeserved kindness that she showed, this woman said that life is short and you just never know what other people are going through. I don’t know if this woman is a Christian, but her experience certainly illustrates an important truth from the Bible. Here’s what the apostle Paul writes in the twelfth chapter of Romans, verses 17-21:
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
In this passage, Paul addresses the proper response of a Christian who is treated wrongly. The natural (even understandable) response of the woman above would be to return evil for evil (read, karate chop to the throat), but anyone could do that. If we who are Christians retaliate, the watching world sees nothing different about our lives. It’s not even clear who’s right and who’s wrong when we respond in kind to the ones who wrong us. But, when we love our enemies and return good for evil, the contrast is stark.
I don’t know about you, but I’m going to seek an opportunity to respond the way this woman did. Not because I want to or because it feels good, but in order to tell the right story about my Savior, who did not respond in kind to my wrongs.
Troy Burns