Forgiveness vs. Justice

Recently I have been thinking about the concepts of forgiveness, justice and how they relate to Christian responsibility in the world. There is absolutely no question regarding the Christian imperative to forgive others. In fact Jesus, Himself tells us that if we do not forgive others God will not forgive us (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiveness is a way of life for Christians. Because God has reconciled all things to himself and made peace with humanity (Colossians 1:20), the church is privileged to be working as God's ambassadors of His Kingdom. In 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 Paul writes "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." Forgiveness and reconciling God's creation to Himself are deeply important to Him and to His church. The Church has been given the ministry of reconciliation, that is proclaiming that Christ has conquered the power of sin and made possible the restoration of a broken relationship with humanity. And what I mean by the church, is the same thing Paul means in his epistles; not just the institutional church, but every one of us who make it up. We are given the ministry of reconciliation. The gospel is for all human beings everywhere at all times and proclaiming it is the purpose of the church. As Christians, we simply cannot afford to carry any grudge or ill-feeling toward anybody anywhere, even when they have hurt us, our loved ones, or our way of life deeply.

I think of this because the ninth anniversary of the September 11th attacks are coming up within a few days. That was a day that many people believed changed the world permanently (However, Stanley Hauerwas makes the correct point that Easter was the only day that changed the world permanently. 9-11 was just another instance of the world's rejection of the gospel). The immense hatred and evil we saw displayed on that day against the United States of America and the Western world has sent us Americans and Westerners spiraling into a struggle against the forces of Radical Islamic terrorists. The question is, how are we as Christians supposed to carry out God's mission of reconciliation when our societies are at war.

I approach this subject with a very great deal of trepidation. Whenever one begins to talk of forgiving a group or country that has done terrible evil, their is the risk of being accused as being uncaring, unpatriotic, a pacifist, or a variety of other politically unpopular names. However, the point I am about to make is not based on a political ideology, but simply on what I believe the responsibility of Christian is, according to the command of Christ.

I have seen among Christians a great deal of animosity and fear toward Muslims. Of course, this makes a lot of logical sense. Among the general population that attitude is common. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the subsequent attempts at terrorism in the last several years have lent to us very good reason to be fearful of the enemies of our nation. However, being that we are at war against "Terror," attitudes of viewing the enemies of our nation as enemies of the body of Christ naturally creep in. This should not be so. I must also say I am as guilty as anyone else for developing and "us vs. them" mindset and falling short of Christ's command to forgive.

If as Christians we are required to forgive those who have sinned against us and to leave vengeance up to the Lord, we are required to forgive the terrorists. On September 11 this year, a Christian group in Florida will burn copies of the Koran, and that caused me to think. Has the church made a formal stand against Terrorism by saying "We forgive you?" In my own conversations about the current conflict, do I reflect the forgiveness I am required to give? Am I carrying out the mission of God's reconciliation in the world as the Bible commands? As the church, that is our role. We need to make a public stand before our friends and neighbors that we have forgiven the sins committed against our fellow countrymen.

Now I know the response to this will be "You're just saying we should let the terrorists do whatever they want and just keep on forgiving?" The answer is no. The terrorists have committed an offense against the nation we live in and it is justifiable, I believe, to go after the ones responsible. Romans 13 explains that the state is ordained by God to bear the sword as a way to keep the peace. As the ruler of the nation, the president or king has the charge to keep order within a lawless society. This involves the execution of justice against evildoers.

However, on the flip side, Romans 12 gives directions for the way Christians are to deal with their enemies. Christians are to repay evil with good, to leave room for the vengeance of God, and to defeat evil through love. It is in this way that Christians carry out the work of reconciliation. We imitate Christ, who defeated evil by Godly love. Therefore, as Christians, when we have a perceived enemy, we cannot treat them like an enemy. We must forgive and proclaim that forgiveness God has given the world through his son.

So in regards to forgiveness, justice, and the terrorist enemy, the answer is somewhat complex. We Christians are not only required to support the victims of the terrorists and the war on terror, but also to forgive the enemy that did so. We cannot in our hearts harbor un-forgiveness, even against such monstrous evil. We must pray for their conversion and remember that they are simply doing what the world does when it rejects the peace of Christ. In our conversation we must try to express our wish that they will be led to Christ. We must, when others are burning Korans say "We forgive you for the wrongs you have done."

As for Christians in the military or law enforcement, they are serving the state and its execution of justice. Nowhere in the Bible does it say a Christian cannot serve the state in such a way. But I do believe there is a way to execute justice and forgiveness at the same time. As a Christian one must forgive and not hold any ill-will against an enemy, but in the interest of keeping the peace the evil-doers must be put away. In fact, having Christians doing these jobs who are committed to following the commands of Christ could serve to make for a much more merciful and effective peace-keeping tool. Only what is necessary to restrain evil would be done. By the act of forgiving and loving one's enemies, much of the nastier horrors of war or peace-keeping could be avoided while still carrying out justice in the name of security.

So let us remind ourselves to forgive those who terrorize us and our fellow citizens. It is hard, it is scary, but it is the mission of a Christian. Let us pray for the gospel to go out to all the world. Let us reveal in our speech the forgiveness of Christ to all men. Let us remember that justice is to be carried out with compassion. After all, God gave us not justice, but mercy in the cross and requires us to do the same.