I remember being very confused in grade school when we studied President Theodore Roosevelt, who had ties to my home state of North Dakota. I wasn't confused by his ties to and love for our state, nor his accomplishments, attitude and shortfalls. I was confused by his use of the word "bully".
In a letter dated September 27th, 1907, President Roosevelt used the word bully as an adjective, saying "Bully for you." as an exclamation of commendation to the then President of UC Berkeley, Benjamin Wheeler. This may not be the first time Roosevelt used this phrase in writing and was most certainly not the first time he'd spoken it, but this phrase became emblematic of his presidency nonetheless.
As a young man, I hadn't a clue what "bully for you" meant. It made no sense to me. Why on earth would someone want a bully; someone who insults you, beats up on you, talks you down and makes you feel worthless. Can you understand my confusion?
To me, bullies were the bigger boys on the bus who liked to "knob" me, remove the spiral wire binding from notebooks, rub it back and forth on the spine of a text book and "burn" me and other "little" kids. We all had/have our bullies.
Proverbs 22:8
Whoever sows sin reaps weeds,
and bullying anger sputters into nothing.
Earlier this week as part of our devotional study on the book of Judges, someone related some of their real life adult experience with someone who likes to bully in the workplace. In the simplest of terms, a bully is anyone who used their power, influence or strength of will to force or coerce and/or convince others to do their bidding or to get their way. Until this week, I'd never really thought of some of my "difficult" co-workers and peers as being bullies, but when you apply this definition, it makes sense.
I still don't have a clue what led Teddy Roosevelt to adopt the word bully as a compliment, but I do know what our Creator has to say about how we are to react towards bullies in life and in the church. First, we are to love them and not just in words, but in actions. We are to live the love of our Savior in all that we do and say and we are to love our enemies as we do ourselves. Does this mean that we are to stand by and let them bully us and others? NO, but it does mean that the example Jesus set for us in how he lived His life, should always serve as our example for dealing with those who sin against us.
Bully for you, Teddy might say. I say "Jesus for you!" I think it just makes more sense!
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Ephesians 5:1-4Amen.
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