Dodgeball to the Face

Nothing hurts quite like a dodgeball to the face.
 
Once when I was in fifth grade, we were out playing at recess at San Mateo. Back then, there was a large opening covered by old trees where people played kickball. Well, one day we had an extra ball, which meant that anyone could have it and start some other game. Since we were on the swings, we decided to make a new kind of kickball. One person would throw the balk to someone who was swinging. The person in the swing had to kick it while in mid-swing to send it really high. Other people were waiting to catch this ball farther away. 

When it was time for me to kick the ball, I was swinging really high and getting prepared. One kid grabbed the ball and threw it at me really fast. It went straight past my feet while I was at the bottom of the swing's motion and it hit me in the face. OUCH!!

Remember how I said earlier that nothing hurts quite like a dodgeball to the face? I may need to add a little note...

Nothing hurts quite like a dodgeball to the face while swinging and then falling out of the swing as it reaches the tallest point of motion.

Tis was one of the worst feelings I ever had. I'm laying on the ground, trying not to cry in front of all of my friends, but it's hard since the ball pretty much nailed my tear ducts (yeah, something like that.) How could even get by with crying? Then I knew what I had to do.

I laid there until someone came beside me and asked if I was alright. I looked up with a blank stare and said, "I can't see." Then, someone else rushed over to see what was up. At this point, I just started yelling "I can't see!! I can't see!!" I was doing everything I could to make it appear as though I had went blind, since there were tears. This didn't last long, because someone threw a ball at me and I ducked to avoid it, and apparently no one believed that I heard the air rushing toward me. Oh well.

This feeling of pain and embarrassment is something I can only compare to when we are questioned about our faith. And I don't me the warm, fuzzy, "How must I be saved?" Sunday School material questioning. I mean the rigorous kind that makes you feel like the loser of a very important debate. This happens almost daily for some of us, and for others it's something we just want to avoid all together. 

The Bible commands that we need to be "prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." (1 Peter 3:15) Uh-oh. Now we're laying on the ground, stunned by what they just hit us with, trying to think up some excuse for not being able to respond. Do we respond by yelling and shutting them down? No. The same verse says to "do it with gentleness and respect." We are supposed to show the people who wrong us love, not try to make them feel bad for their misdeeds. In my example, me pretending to be blind to make them feel bad was awful, just like it would be awful if, when asked about particular beliefs we hold, we respond with a response that might as well be calling the person a filthy sinner.

This answer we're supposed to provide doesn't have to win, and many times it does not. After all, the Bible passage doesn't go on to say that once you win, you must be nice. It says when you're slandered, you respond with gentleness and respect to shame the opposer. It's not like you're trying to win a debate!! You just wanna share the love of God with that person. You end up "winning" if you are truly following Jesus, but if you're truly following Jesus, you probably realize that you're "losing" if you focus more on some sort of nonexistent battle than on leading a lost soul to Christ. Just think of this the next time the world hits you in the face with a dodgeball.

Your Brother in Christ,
Phillip