Scripture is full of twists and turns that help us navigate the complexities of our world.

Some would call them inconsistencies. Or in need of complicated justifications. However, I would call it God’s wisdom in speaking to our ever complex circumstances.

One such twist is how Scripture handles “turning the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39). It is not uncommon to hear sermons and Bible studies based on the idea that as Christians we should be doormats. It is part of teaching on submission in the Bible.

Twists and Turns

However, there are also turns in Scripture that throw us off guard. This is because Scripture was written not to give us a specific law for every eventuality in which we find ourselves. As the author of the “Divorce and Domestic Abuse” section in the DASA Report, Shane Waldron, notes,

[I]f we interpret Scripture through the lens of modern law, we will most likely arrive at a very different answer than if we read it as law from the Ancient Near East.

Ad Interim Study Committee on Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault for the Presbyterian Church in America, Attachment 11

Our American viewpoint on law is just not the same as Scripture’s. They understood laws in a “principled” way. The big picture is given in the Bible in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and then given hands and feet in principles through case laws that are found throughout. These “case laws” help us understand the complexities of our situations.

For example, the Ten Commandments tell us we cannot murder. But, murder must be defined more carefully. So, the case law notes that killing someone in self-defense is not punishable as murder (Exodus 22:2). There are other defining characteristics as to what “murder” should be considered.

Turning the Other Cheek

So, too we need to be careful in what we expect of people when it comes to submission to evil. What I mean by that is how we determine when we should turn the other cheek to those who do harm.

A curious defining moment for those under toxic leadership comes in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church. He says,

Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. ¹⁹ For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! ²⁰ For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. ²¹ To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!

2 Corinthians 11:18-21 (ESV)

Paul’s writing reeks of sarcasm here as it does in other places. The Corinthian church had gone far astray since Paul brought the Gospel to Corinth around 50 AD. He wrote the words above around 4-6 years later. There were some pretty serious problems that had popped up in that time.

There were those who were abusing their authority in the church, teaching contrary to Paul’s apostolic authority. In this passage, Paul’s sarcasm is directed at the followers. He is calling them to action.

Submission That is Not God’s Desire

When it comes to those who are abusing their authority, Paul would suggest that submission is not the desire of God. Here submission is to God who overrules wicked authority.

Paul describes it as bearing “with fools, being wise yourselves!” Putting up with wicked authority is no godly. When doing so, followers are allowing the leader(s) to “make slaves of you, or [devour] you, or [take] advantage of you.”

Paul, in his writing, can be harsh. But that harshness is intended to relieve those oppressed by that which God despises. God despises leaders who take advantage and oppress their subjects (Ezekiel 34). Paul, though sarcastic towards these followers in Corinth, is particularly looking out for the flock there.

This is not a call to be overly critical of leaders in Christian organizations.

Scripture still makes it evident that the default position of those under various authorities to recognize and submit to those authorities as God-given.

However, this perspective must also be balanced with Scripture’s continual call to leaders to lead under the direction of their LORD and for followers to hold leaders accountable to that same standard.