Living in South Africa, with all its crime and corruption, it is very hard to grasp what the Word expects of us in these situations. I am not going to try to go into an in-depth theological study of the matter, but I am going to say what I believe the basic teaching in scripture is. before I explain, let me give you the punch line – Love your enemies. That’s it. It sounds easy, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty of the matter it is not. What should I do, or who should I be when robbers enter my house and hold my family at gunpoint? What should I do if they decide to rape one of my daughters or my wife? I really do not have exact answers, but I can tell you what the Word says. Firstly I believe that we are not really permitted to become physical. 1Pe 3:9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. We should not repay evil with evil. By fighting back or becoming physical, are we turning the other cheek? Are we loving? Are we blessing those who curse us? Rom 12:20-21 Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Is it clear enough? We should be good to those who overcome us with evil. Now this is a lot easier said than done, where do we get the power to do something like this? There are a whole lot of different views we can take on this matter. Let me give some examples. Firstly, what is God’s main plan? To draw sinners unto Himself. Who does He use to do that? Us, the church, the believers. So if you become physical or retaliate, how are your actions drawing that sinner closer to God. Secondly, we say God s sovereign. What does that mean? It means God is in complete control of every action, every thought, every circumstance every second of every day. God is in control of the spider making its web behind the cupboard and God is in control of the black hole swallowing whole solar systems. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens outside of His perfect plan and nothing catches Him by surprise. So, if God is truly sovereign, then that robber is also under God’s control, and nothing can happen to me that is outside of God’s perfect plan. So why would I rather retaliate than trust in God? Did He not open the seas for the Israelites when the Egyptians were chasing them? Did He not give army after army into their hands when they entered the promised land? Has He not always taken care of His people? Why should this be any different? Does God change? No, even in a situation like this I can trust and rely on Him, nothing can remove me from His love. Rom 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. I am not going to go on and on about this, I believe it is clear. We should love our enemies, we should turn the other cheek, we should not repay evil with evil, we should act in such a way that our enemies might meet God.
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