To follow this hard teaching of Jesus means I have to accept a loss, don’t I? If I forgive an offender who owes me a debt, then A=zip, zero, nothing, doesn’t it?The Old Testament formula of “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” sought exact repayment, as an equation A=A. Other understandings sought symbolic repayment, such that if you steal my ox, you owe me the ox plus the value of lost labor; as an equation, A=B. Either way, the aim of justice was to bring matters between two parties back to a real or perceived zero, an evenness or balance.
What then do we do with Jesus who commands, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer” (Matt 5:38-42)? To follow this hard teaching means I have to accept a loss, don’t I? If I forgive an offender who owes me a debt, then A=zip, zero, nothing, doesn’t it?
There is a third way between vengeance and victim-hood. I propose that the primary theft by an offender is that of the victim’s own personal agency; their capacity to act or exert power. Forgiveness, which Jesus taught, is difficult and risky, but does not result in an outright deficit for the victim. By forgiving, the victim regains their capacity to act and exert power because they choose not to allow a perpetrator to continue to hold power over them. Third-way actions do not cover wrongdoing, nor do they guarantee equivalent compensation, but they do move both victim and offender back toward equal footing.
The wonder of third-way choices is that they hold the possibility of transformation for not only the victim, but the offender and those who hear the story. These choices inject moral capital back into the common economy of justice from which others are able to make withdrawals to fund their own third-way choices. We are able to borrow—to draw upon—the courage, resolve and creativity of others. These stories help to write our own stories because they stock our imaginations with alternative visions, other than flight or fight. If your imagination is largely stocked with fight stories, fight will become your default setting. Most of our decision-making occurs inside our imaginations before we are faced with actual choices of how we might respond to conflict.
This common economy of justice exists for the good of all, and the marvelous fact of the matter is that anyone may draw on the imaginative, courageous capital deposited by those who made third-way choices. Let’s fill up the bank account, shall we? What choice will you make today? What stories will you share to increase our common funding toward peacemaking?
Keim, Paul and Joseph Liechty. “Vengeance/Forgiveness Project: Reading Texts from a Talionic Perspective.” C. Henry Smith Peace Lecture, February 13, 2008: Goshen (IN) College
