The Reward of Radical Obedience

“You gave him your debit card?” Incredulous, I stared at my soon-to-be-fiancé. Only now I wasn’t so sure our engagement would happen as soon as I hoped. After six years of dating, I knew it was coming. I’d helped pick out the ring. I knew he’d been saving and that all that money was in his checking account. The same account he’d handed over to a complete stranger.

I held my disappointment in check and tried to listen to the whole story.

Someone searching for “answers” had emailed the college library where he worked, and they had agreed to meet at a nearby shopping mall. Troy was cautious but also an eager evangelist, so he chose a very public place to sit and await the stranger.

They talked for a long time, the man appearing to have many sincere questions about the Bible, but as the conversation wound down, the man expressed doubts that Troy’s faith was real. “If you really followed Jesus, you would take these verses seriously,” he quipped, almost daring Troy for an authentic, Christ-like response as he read from Matthew 5.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”  (Matt. 5:38-42 NIV)

“I do take them seriously,” Troy responded, beginning to suspect what was coming.

“Prove it then. All you Christians are the same, claiming to believe the Bible but never really following through. If I asked you for $100, would you give me $200?”

Troy laughed. “I have like $20 on me. You can have it if you want.”

“Do you have a credit card? Would you give that to me?” The stranger had primed Troy for this and knew he had him cornered.

“I have a debit card.”

The stranger raised his eyebrows, waiting.

Troy looked down at his Bible, inwardly saying a prayer for wisdom, as his eyes fell back on verse 39: “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.” By this time, it was pretty clear he was dealing with an evil person, not a sincere seeker. Yet there it was in red letters, the call to give unreservedly whether it was deserved or not.

Troy got out his wallet and handed over his debit card.

“Wait!” I saw a glimmer of hope. “He couldn’t access your account without your pin number, right!?”

“Um, yeah. I gave that to him, too,” Troy admitted.

I stared at him as the injustice of it all began stirring my anger. I’m not proud to say that I had some rather selfish, un-Christ-like words for his choice. But Troy sat there, unshaken. He believed he had obeyed the Lord and he didn’t regret his decision. I wasn’t so sure.

Word got around campus, and friends began scraping together their tips and savings. Before long, Troy was given a gift that helped to replace what he’d lost. And I still got my ring.

For a long time, we prayed for that stranger, that he’d be convicted by the very Scriptures he used for his own gain and become a generous-hearted disciple of Christ. I hope we get to see the result of those prayers in heaven one day. But for now, nearly twenty years later, I’m still faced with the challenge of Jesus’ words and the way Troy took them sincerely in faith.

I was reminded of this incident this morning when my now-husband quoted from Matthew 5 to our squabbling children. Bringing the point home, he said, “If your brother wants to take one stuffy, give him two. And just see what happens.”

My daughter, of course, had a counterargument. “But what if he won’t give them back?”

“Look, if you’re generous, and it goes badly for you, I’ll make it right.”

The scriptural reality of those words broadsided me. You see, Jesus doesn’t just ask us to give boldly and extravagantly. He promises that he will be the one to make it right.

“ ‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.’ “ (Mark 10:29-30 NIV)

Troy, like a good daddy, has both the power and the authority to bring justice to his children’s situation. How and when he chooses to do that is up to him. So it is, too, with our heavenly Father. But he will make it right.

Jesus never claimed that radical obedience to his ways would be easy or comfortable. In fact, it will cost you. A lot. It will likely also bring trials and persecution—perhaps even from your own skeptical loved ones. In the end, though, he will right every wrong, avenge every injustice, and reward every act of worship.

Until that day, let’s pray for the kind of faith that is eager to follow him no matter the cost, proving his unfailing goodness and generosity toward his children.

Corella Roberts is a country girl and a city girl. An introvert and a socialite. A homebody and an adventurer. But mostly, she’s simply Abba’s child. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, Troy, and they live in Thailand with their two full-of-life kids and two chubbier-than-most hamsters. She’s the author of Colliding with the Call: When Following God Takes You to the Wilderness, and her heart is to see people connect deeply with Jesus. You can find her at corellaroberts.com.

Photograph © Y Tink, used with permission