Opus 2015-416: Jesus the Wuss

I got the official word from a professional.  As I waiting with anticipation for that one word that would summarize my personality, he smiled and said, “Wuss.” 

Okay.  It was only a dream.  But it was my dream.  It came from my subconscious.  In addition to the word being used recently several times in class, it is a question I have.

I can be bold and strong.  My wife used to cringe at some of the things that I proclaimed from the pulpit.  I never worried about it.  I went where the Bible took me.

One on one I tend to be more nuanced and diplomatic.  I am aware that in life there are often many shades of gray and that people need to be persuaded, not brow-beaten.  When confronted I usually will back off, regroup and see how to move forward again.  I have not been in a physical fight since my years of gross immaturity.  Even then I avoided it.

One of my frustrations in life is that very early I accepted as a Biblical standard “turn the other cheek.”  I was physically bullied and emotionally crippled for a year and half in elementary school because I kept turning the other cheek.  Finally I reached the breaking point and pushed back.  It wasn’t much as fights go.  A bit of pushing and rolling around on the ground but it produced amazing results:  The bully never bothered me again.

I still believe that the default in life is turning the other cheek.  I am aware that people with dominant personalities tend to look at that as weakness.  I guess in a way it is.  It is still the standard position God wants us to take.

Can you push me too far?  Yes.  Even Jesus told his disciples to buy swords at one point.  He rebuked Peter.  He went invisible and walked through a crowd.  But when it was necessary He became a wuss.  The eternal, incarnate One who held the world in His hands allowed a bunch of ignorant Roman thugs nail Him to a Cross.  That is the ultimate turning of the other cheek.

I guess I can live with that label, even if it is from my own dreams.

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