As the archetype of all spiritual masters, Our Lord left a rule of life for His followers. This rule of life finds the bulk of its content in the Sermon on the Mount. There is hardly any aspect of life that isn’t touched by Jesus’ prescription for happiness. The bar is set ridiculously high to prove both its practical impossibility and His power to transform us. Those who set out under their own power quickly find His maxims unlivable. But this is not the only reason why many find it unlivable. It is also unlivable when, although with the best of intentions, Christians treat it not as a rule of life, but as a social blueprint.
An example may help better illustrate what I mean. When addressing the issue of retaliation, Our Lord tells His followers: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow” (Mt 5:38-42). There are a multitude of ways in which this new law manifests itself in the lives of individual Christians, but it all boils down to how we are to respond when we are victims of evil. We may, like Our Lord (Jn 18:23) and St. Paul (Acts 16:22) choose not to turn the other cheek, but only if we are prepared to absorb the evil rather than respond in kind. How this plays out in the day to day is left to the discernment of each Christian man and woman.
Our Lord’s Blueprint
What Our Lord was not offering a plan for social justice. All too often these verses and others like them (except oddly enough the ones on divorce) are quoted in support of a political agenda. These verses are meant to be a plan of life for the individual Christian. This is not to imply that there is not a social dimension to living in accord with them, but it is not Our Lord’s blueprint for society, but His recipe for leaven.
A society made up of Christians who are willing to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile or lend without condition is a society that will be animated by charity and forgiveness. But society itself has no cheek to turn. It may be governed by men living out the Beatitudes, but their rules of governing must be based in service of the common good.
Jesus was not condemning “an eye for an eye.” Many people go far beyond what Our Lord was saying. In a qualified, that is a non-literal sense, there is nothing unjust about it. The principle represents a sound basis for the foundation of any society. Offenses must be punished and any punishment that is just must have the proper degree of proportionality to it. A society that offers no resistance to evil is sure on the path to anarchy. To attempt to apply Our Lord’s personal principle to society as a whole makes Christians look foolish no matter how well intentioned. Non-Christians conclude then that the Gospel is not only unlivable, but unreasonable as well.
Punishment
There is a second aspect of this as well that is important to mention because it does apply to society. We should never respond to evil with evil. This is worth mentioning because, although punishment may be perceived as an evil by the one punished, it is not evil in itself. In fact, it is a good for both society and the individual when it is carried out in a just manner. In other words, to expect society to “turn the other cheek” in the face of evil is actually responding to evil with evil.
This habit of socializing the personal permeates much of the discourse of priests and prelates for hot button issues like the death penalty and immigration. Jesus telling us to “turn the other cheek” is not an argument against the death penalty, no matter how Christian society is. “Welcoming the stranger” may be the basis for allowing any immigrants, but it can never be used as an argument against specific policies. The examples could be multiplied but each time they are invoked the power of the Gospel to be leaven is greatly minimized.