Did Jesus ever have to deal with bullies when he was growing up? As an urban gypsy, hopping from town to town, I know I had my share of them. Some of them still stand out vividly in my mind:
Second grade: Elsinore California. it was “Eddie Spaghetti” who like to tease girls but specialized in tormenting me.
Fourth grade: Fullerton, California. We transferred in mid-year. My teacher delighted in calling out my shortcomings in front of the whole class.
Fifth grade: Yermo, California. A whole pack of girls cornered me once with devious intentions. Luckily, I was a fast runner.
Sixth grade: Puhrump, Nevada. Eric S. and his cronies terrorized our whole class, even punching kids in sight of the teacher. My friend Martha and I were his special targets.
Seventh grade. Still in Puhrump. Eric was doing time in juvie, but his cronies patrolled the halls of the junior high school doling out punishment. I also had to deal with a gym teacher who openly mocked me because I was fat, clumsy and had no athletic skills.
Eighth grade: Las Vegas, Nevada. Kay-Kay threw me up against a locker because she felt I looked at her wrong during drama class.
Ninth grade: South Sioux City, Nebraska. Once again, transferring in mid-year. The harassment was started by a kid named Tristan with one leg shorter than the other. For retaliation, my sister suggested I call him “Pegleg”. Wrong thing to do to a kid with friends when you have none.
Tenth grade: Still in South Sioux. Riding the school bus. There was a senior on our route. He was big enough to make the football defensive line, but too stupid to make the required grade point to stay there. He delighted in poking me in the back with a pencil and pulling my hair the whole trip. Once, he rapped me on the head with his class ring as he went by. Those things hurt!
I’m not sure if it was the ring incident or something else, but at some point that bully caught me on a bad day and I lashed back. I don’t even remember if I actually hit him or not, but there I was all 5’6″ of me swinging madly at this 6’+ colossus. He and his buddies smirked at my pathetic attempts, but he didn’t poke me the rest of the trip.
The next day he got on the bus and met my icy glare. The look said “don’t even think of trying something, jerk!” He walked right on by and sat at the back of the bus, far away from me.
That was the last time I was ever bullied.
Tristan and I were actually semi-friends in high school, saying hi to each other in passing in the hallway. He played a drunk in the school musical and I gave him tips on how to create the illusion of a 5 o’clock shadow.
But my childhood experiences left me wondering if the adolescent Jesus was ever bullied. Growing up, I was taught to “turn the other cheek”, “blessed are the meek” and “a gentle word turns away wrath”. Does that apply to bullies too?
Well, the Bible has very little to say about the Jesus’ life before his ministry, but it says a lot about how Jesus dealt with the bullies of his adulthood. He stood up to the Pharisees, overturned the tables of the crooked money changers and he called sin what it was.
Too many Christians picture Jesus as this anemic, timid being and hold him as an example to us asking “What would Jesus do?” It’s believing we must be mum so we don’t offend others, and don’t fight back because that’s not the Christian thing to do. Keep the peace at all cost. But does Jesus call us to keep our bodies inactive and our mouths shut in the face of injustice? In our attempts to be peace makers are we called to be peace fakers?
No.
Because that is what being a true peace maker is: standing up to those who take advantage of the weak, calling out injustice, telling others “no, that’s not OK”.
This isn’t picking fights – it’s standing up for yourself and your beliefs. And at times, that means you have to defend yourself. Sometimes with scripture, sometimes with reason and sometimes – possibly – with your fists.
Ephesians 6 tells us “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”
Truth and righteousness stand there with peace, not timidity and political correctness.
So stand firm, ready to defend who you are and the Christ living within you. Your peace comes not from bully tactics of the world but through knowing Christ and standing strong with him.
So, as a Christian, have you ever had a time you had to “fight back?”