It has been with interest that I have been listening and keeping track of the Sophie Elliot trial. Personally, I cannot for the life of me work out how a person, irrespective of social position, can stab anyone more than 200 times and claim a plea of manslaughter. I can only hope and pray that, in the end, justice will win out, and the Elliot family can gain at least some closure from all of this.
Sometimes, justice is hard to reconcile in light of my walk with Christ. Not that I have had any problem with justice. I certainly think and believe that justice fits into the framework of Christianity quite well. But for me, the problem of reconciling justice to Christianity stems from those who spout a pseudo-unconditional love, whereby it seems to cover EVERYTHING, no matter what 'it' is.
Let me illustrate my last sentence. Suppose it is midnight, and somebody breaks into your house, presumably to plunder your goods. Now you, the erstwhile homeowner, would interpret this scenario - correctly - as a threat to your family. What if the perpetrator also has ill intentions to rape your partner? Would you, in the name of Christlikeness, attempt to witness to this perp on the spot, and, because of the fear of the law, allow the perp to carry out their evil scheme?
I would dear hope that your answer would be a resounding "no". Yet, there are believers out there, albeit with all good intentions, who believe in a type of unconditional love that is actually an unconditional forgiveness. The two are quite, quite different. Unconditional love is loving the person, despite their imperfections. Unconditional forgiveness is the willingness to overlook their imperfections, even if it comes at a cost to ourselves. Of course, a strong Liberal persuasion have asked the question, "Why did Jesus have to go to the Cross? Couldn't God just simply forgive sins?" This is an argument pitting Unconditional Love against Unconditional Forgiveness. The Cross, thank God, honours the former of the two. It also demonstrates that, while love abounds in the nature of God, He cannot simply overlook sin. At the cross, justice triumphs, and also serves to us, His followers, to remind us that God takes sin seriously. So seriously, in fact, that it cost Jesus his life.
Unconditional Forgiveness, conversely, does not honour justice. It says that if a wrong is committed, then reparation will not be made for the wrong. Victims are denied closure, and perpetrators receive the message that they can do whatever they desire, knowing that forgiveness is just around the corner, ready to wipe the slate clean. It says that your partner can be raped, at no cost to the perp, and at a dreadful cost to you and your family.
Thankfully, I love the fact that I have God's unconditional love; for although He loves me just as I am, He will still on a daily basis hold me to account. Love and justice, hand in hand.
Just a few random thoughts. Time for me to head off to bed where it's warm.
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3 comments:
hey man, liked your analogy of the criminal breaking into the house and i think its something we all struggle with especially in the light of our present judicial system (and i use that term loosly).
I wonder if perfect forgivness (the type that God has) is like some sort of perfect parole board?
The parole board uses a system where the inmate needs to own what he/she did and then show remorse and a inclination to change.
With humanity i understand that this is difficult to impossible but as we are following the example set by Christ shouldn't we at least try?
Going back to your analogy, i think we are required to defend our families from whatever threat comes our way but in a way that reflects our following of Christ. i dont know what this is but when i do, i'll let you know
Nothing but good thoughts there, Mr Warwick :)
Regarding your analogy re parole board cf unconditional forgiveness: The ingredients of the parole board system indeed are,
- if a criminal shows genuine remorse
- an inclination to change, and
- has a low probability of reoffending
Whereas unconditional forgiveness (U.F.)in my post is not defined as such. U.F. does not have a guilt and culpability built into its framework. Rather, it is knowing that, no matter the evil, pardon and restoration is 100% guaranteed without consequence. It is this rendering of forgiveness that is nauseating. I'm sure Bonhoeffer would agree on this (what he dubbed Cheap Grace; grace without cost).
thats true but u.f.is the beginning and therefore only part of what it is.
Cheap grace is the beginning and we move from there to costly grace as a natural progression.
but we have to start somewhere
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