i had the great pleasure of having coffee with some friends this morning. It is a vehicle that we use in order to stay in touch with one another's lives - Accountability. We have adopted a system by which we can stay on top of one another in areas where we struggle the most, and by keeping each other accountable in these specific areas we can track our failures and successes.
A couple of the questions that we ask are geared toward relationships and how we treat people both in their presence and their absence.
Dave, one of my friends, mentioned that God had really spoken to him about "remaining in my (Jesus) love." He didn't expound on it too much, but it stirred something.
What is Jesus love that we remain in it? What does it look like? If we remain in Christ's love should we not also mimic that love?
Can we harbor anger or hatred and still love? Can we truly call ourselves followers of Jesus if we are not willing to drop our anger and our hate, and love everyone unconditionally??
i don't believe that any one of us can say that we love God, call ourselves followers of Jesus, or even call ourselves Christians if we can not love Adolph Hitler, Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, Tookie Williams, and that person in each of our lives that causes us to shudder.
If we have no room for mercy, grace and forgiveness on EVERY level in our hearts, we have no room for Christ there either. It is easy for me to say this, I am not the family of those people killed. But in all of this God has intended to teach us, to build us up.
The case of Stanley Williams is one of the greatest opportunities for us to show the love that Christ showed the adulterous women, who by the law of her people was to be put to death.
Williams is guilty of horrible crimes and may be partly responsible for founding one of the worst gang organizations in the country. Since that time he has made efforts to renounce what he has done. He has made efforts to work against the damage he has done to thousands of teens. Yet in spite of these things we can not grant clemency.
Imagine if Christ treated us the same?
From this point forward I will struggle with anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ that supports the death penalty.
May God forgive us, and grant us clemency!!!!!
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2 comments:
Wow, you bring up a lot of issues in such a brief post. I am not sure if I am for the death penalty or against it, but I am definitely for believers seeking how to truly live out our Creator's love. Regarding the death penalty, as a believer I have a two-fold responsibility. The first one is to "love my neigbor" (actually it's the second) and to figure out what this looks like. The second is that as a participant in the greater society how is law and justice brought about? With regards to the second we see that the Law as given to Moses and the Nation of Israel, called for the death of anyone who killed another. And while Bonhoffer might have loved Hitler (might-btw does God love Satan?) he also did his best to assassinate him. Even in the New Testament we see believers in the Church (Ananias and Saphira) who died as an immediate result of their sin. Paul mentions others that have "fallen asleep" because of their sins. In a sense God may love his chosen, but also see it beneficial to end their time here because of the ongoing harm they are causing.
As for Tookie. Let me completely digress, but there are several issues. Which is more loving, to put someone to death or keep them in prison for the rest of their lives? Minus visits and an hour out on the yard, death row inmates tend to be in isolation for the rest of their lives. Despite multiple witnesses testifying, Tookie never admitted to the crimes he was convicted of. Maybe he was innocent or maybe he knew that if he did admit, he could not appeal. Further, Tookie and his supporters base his "Redemption" (see the movie if you haven't, it's good) on his good acts since being in prison. We as believers know that our redemption is not based on our actions but our actions are the result of our redemption. Furthermore no amount of actions will ever erase the death that his victims faced.
As believers whether we are for or against the death penalty, we need to realize the huge questions that are always attached to it and have thoughtful discussions such as you raise in this blog. We need to as individuals and a community of believers seek to love our neighbors and that includes those who are downright evil. At the same time we need to balance this out with how we administer law and justice in our society. While I can turn the other cheek, do I allow the guy to victimize someone else? These are hard questions and difficult to live out in faith.
-Your bro
Hmmmmm. . . some deep thoughts. Let me respond. Not to be too brief about it, but you mention that, in the case of Ananias and Saphira, as with others, that God did the killing. We are God's creation and if he opts to whack us, that is His perogative. But for us, i am not sure that we carry the same level of responsibility now that existed in the time of Moses. You will recall that back then you could be stoned for adultry and other lesser crimes. Try justifying that today.
As for God loving Satan. i don't, and wont know for some time (till i ask him). If i had to guess i would say that yes, he does love him, but as you also brought up, it is a matter of the greater good. i am sure that this too is a debatable thought, but for arguments sake. . . One Satan, all of Mankind. . .
Finally, in this lifetime no one can make right what Tookie did. But in the bigger scheme of things God had a plan for all of this. As for his redemption, only he and God know for now.
- love ya man!
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