“Be Merciful, Just as Your Father Is Merciful”
What did Christ mean when he said “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful? Let’s read the full quote:
“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. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Luke 6:35-36
The Lord was stressing here that, if we do good to our enemies and show them mercy we are being “sons (or daughters) of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” In other words, he’s encouraging us to imitate our heavenly Father, which is a scriptural principle (Ephesians 5:1 & 1 Peter 4:11). Since our Father in Heaven is kind and merciful to thankless evildoers we should extend them the same grace.
This is an awesome general principle to live by, but it shouldn’t be mistaken to mean that we’re obligated to perpetually offer sweetness and mercy to wicked ingrates who repeatedly spit on our genuine efforts of goodwill and peace. After all, God showed Herod Agrippa much patience and mercy even though he was a pompous persecutor of the Church, but when he imprisoned Peter and put James to death, as shown in Acts 12:1-5, Herod’s days were numbered and he was dangerously nearing the limit of the LORD’s tolerance (1 Thessalonians 2:15-16). When Herod arrogantly accepted praise that’s only due the Most High at a political speech he was swiftly wiped off the face of the earth by “an angel of the Lord” (Acts 12:23).
What should we make of this? God showed this wicked unbeliever much patience and mercy, but when Herod foolishly chose to spurn his awesome grace, time after time, the Sovereign Lord withdrew his mercy and decisively executed stern judgment. This occurred in the New Testament era and this is our heavenly Father whom the Messiah said we should emulate. Chew on that.
Christ himself acted the same way when he walked the earth. He prayerfully and patiently extended mercy and peace to his unbelieving enemies, avoiding conflict at first, but when they refused to yield to God’s grace and repeatedly responded with murderous antagonism and unrepentant legalism he radically rebuked them to their faces (Luke 11:37-40 & Matthew 23:13-33), not to mention fearsome deeds, like clearing the temple of greedy fools (John 2:13-17 & Mark 11:15-18).
Or how about the occasion where Paul openly confronted Elymas the sorcerer? He “looked straight at Elymas and said, ‘You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?’ ” (Acts 13:8-12). The passage clearly states that Paul was “filled with the Spirit” when he said this, not filled with the flesh. But there’s more: The apostle also pronounced the Lord’s judgment in the form of temporary blindness (!), obviously in the hope that the sorcerer would be humbled and wisely repent (verses 9 & 11).
In light of Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 2:1-3, he no doubt researched the areas he was assigned to minister, in this case Cyprus, and subsequently bathed the peoples in prayer, which would include the proconsul and Elymas, the latter of whom was a celebrity of sorts. This is what I always do before I minister at a location. Hence, before even meeting the people of Cyprus the apostle prayed for them and blessed them, including the well-known magician.
My point is that Paul extended love and peace to this man before even meeting him, but when the fool responded with persistent stubborn antagonism, trying to steer people away from God and the gospel, the apostle reacted in a decisively stern manner, led of the Spirit. I think we can all agree that Paul wasn’t Mr. Christian Nice Guy on this occasion.
So, yes, by all means “love your enemies” and “be merciful as your Father is merciful.” Repeat as necessary. This should always be our initial response to unbelieving opposition. But this doesn’t ludicrously mean we’re bound to perpetual sugary sweetness. Ministers who advocate this aren’t being balanced with the Scriptures; either that or they simply don’t know how to read.
When some fool repeatedly spits on your gracious attempts of goodwill and peace you’ll feel righteous anger stir up within you; obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit and act boldly and decisively, just like Christ and Paul did, not to mention Peter (Acts 8:18-24). You’re being a faithful Christian when you do this. In fact, you’re emulating God Himself. Don’t let any misguided religionist convince you otherwise.
Related Topics:
Handling Personal Offenses vs. Handling Criminal Acts
Turning the Cheek — What it Means and Doesn’t Mean
What Does “Go the Extra Mile” Mean?
“If Someone Takes Your Cloak, Do Not Stop Him from Taking Your Tunic”
Turning the Cheek — What it Means and Doesn’t Mean
Judging—When SHOULD You Judge and When SHOULDN’T You Judge?
Forgiveness—Should You Forgive EVERYONE for EVERYTHING ALL of the Time?
Absolute Pacifism (Unbiblical) vs. Limited Pacifism (Biblical)
Jesus Christ — Milksop or Mighty Lord?
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