The Second Mile Way of Living

Jesus often taught counterintuitive truths and principles: “Give and you will receive,” and “Keep your life and you’ll lose it, lose your life and you’ll save it,” and “If you want to be the greatest you must become the servant of everyone.” I’m convinced that most of Jesus’ teachings caused the hearers to scratch their heads in confusion. One of the counterintuitive principles that Jesus taught is “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” (Matthew 5:41 ESV) I bet there were more than a few raised eyebrows from angry, frustrated, and irate people who heard Jesus' teaching. “Really Jesus? Someone FORCES me to go one mile, and I’m supposed to volunteer to go two miles with him?” Jesus' statement requires some details to understand what he was saying. In Roman occupied Israel, a Jewish Roman law required someone to carry the belongings of a Roman soldier who demanded it but only for one mile. Jesus multiplied the one-mile requirement to two miles. Jesus was saying, “If a soldier demands you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles.” Refusing to carry the pack, even one mile is intuitive, volunteering to carrying a pack two miles is counterintuitive. Fully committed followers of Jesus are “second mile people.” Jesus’ way is to travel the extra mile unless the first mile is immoral, unethical, or disobedient to God’s way. If it would be wrong for a person to go one mile, then obviously the second mile would also be wrong. If authorities demand that a Jesus follower, pastor, or teacher stop speaking against abortion, that would violate God’s standard and the demand would call for civil disobedience. It would be wrong, disobedient, and immoral to help a woman abort her baby. If one mile is wrong, then the second mile is also wrong. If in the current context, wearing a mask and social distancing is the required one mile. What is the second mile? Wearing a mask without complaint? Are you seeking to live as a “second miler?” The first mile is obedience. The second mile is the Jesus’ way.