Day #31
Larry Trotter
Words
of Love
27 “But
to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate
you, 28 bless those who
curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Luke 6:27-28 NIV
Overcoming the Barrier
One of the most
difficult periods of my life was during my tenure as program director of a
local radio station when we were attacked by a well-resourced format
competitor. We were the only “lite rock” station and were doing really well in
the ratings with a demographic segment that was highly desirable by advertising
agencies. The new station attacked with a better signal and by playing the same
music with fewer commercials and less talk—we did news and sports and had a
talk-heavy morning show. As they began to make serious inroads in our at-work
listening audience, predictably, our staff offered up creative solutions. One
particular staffer who was under me on the organizational chart believed that
since the country station had such a large audience we should play both, a
couple of rock songs then a couple of country songs and so on. When he approached
me with the idea I told him that it might sound good on the surface, but
ultimately it’s alchemy. People who really like rock don’t necessarily like
country and vice versa. In an effort to please everyone you wind up pleasing no
one. He had a sales person who agreed with him and convinced him to attempt an
end run around me and to go to our corporate offices in Cincinnati to pitch the
idea along with replacing me. My corporate boss listened to his plan, which he
quickly dismissed, and sent him home with a blistering rebuke for his coup
attempt. Thinking that I should know who my enemies are my boss called to share
what had happened and told me to do whatever I wanted with the disgruntled
employee. I spent the weekend stewing over the betrayal until church that
Sunday. It was like stepping out of the corporate world of subterfuge and into
the kingdom world of grace. With fresh perspective I decided that I needed to
let him know I knew about his treachery without threatening him. So, Monday at
work my “Judas” avoided me all day until I walked into his office to discuss
another issue. Just as I was leaving I said, “By the way, did you try Skyline
chili while you were in Cincinnati?” The look on his face was one part shock,
one park embarrassment, and one part abject fear. The “Larry” in me wanted to
seize the moment and make him wriggle like a worm on a hook. However, the
ever-increasing “Jesus” in me due to my ongoing faith reawakening won the day.
I took a deep breath and said, “I know. It’ll be okay.” And it was. He had
already learned a hard lesson from my corporate boss. Anything I might have added
would’ve been pure revenge. And that’s the angle I want to pursue as we
consider the verses above.
This isn’t as much
about letting people run over you as it is about you running over others in the
name of retribution. The next verse after those above that speaks of someone
slapping you is referring to a common way to insult someone in that culture. It
wasn’t as much a physical attack as it was emotional or sociological. This
isn’t about self-defense; it’s about self-analysis. When we are hurt by someone
who has wronged us, what do we really want? Justice? Revenge? Peace? A fight? Love
can never overcome evil if it never has a chance to engage it. Evil thrives against
hate, but it languishes against love. Given a chance love can disarm evil. Is
this easy? Of course not. Is it what the culture of “don’t get mad, get even”
would suggest. Nope. And lest we extrapolate this into issues of national
defense, I’m speaking of how we handle our one-on-one relationships. The easier
path of retribution continues the energy of evil and sets everything in its
path ablaze. The more difficult path of forgiveness creates a break in the
woods that the forest fire can’t jump. I really don’t think Jesus is saying that
we should set ourselves up for abuse. What I do think he’s saying is that we should
take care not to become the aggressor when evil is in our face.
Prayer
God of justice and mercy, please intervene
when my flesh seeks revenge against those who act as enemies. Help me to
remember the One who offered himself so I could be forgiven when I am called to
forgive. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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