by Ken Thomas
Jesus warned people against using degrading insults such as "thou fool" and "Raca" ( Matthew 5). The word "Raca" means "vain fellow" or "empty head." In our day it is common to pass insults even upon those who lead government, schools and even the church."
People who did things differently in the past were often called "squares" or "old-fogies." Now those who are insulted are called "turkey," "nerds," "geeks," etc., but the impact is the same -- somone is different thus not worthy of respect. As Christians we should be willing to absorb such insults from others, but we need to train our minds away from insulting others. Let us practice the golden rule and learn to turn the other cheek when others forget or fail to practice it toward us.