I was recently asked to help someone involved in indescretion and a messy situation that initiated some internal thoughts. Am I at risk, questioning if it's right to help, maybe it's right to withhold involvement, should I ask questions about the messy stuff or stick to the simple tasks, what would other people think if they found out I helped?
We are just coming out of Easter where on the cross Jesus makes a request that goes right up against my internal dialogue, reason, and emotion.
"Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34
Yeah! Sing "Being forgiven is awesome" to the tune of the sticky Lego's sound track "Everything is awesome" - thank you Jesus!
And - being forgiving is.....hmmmm.....well that would be nice....uuuuhhhh.....that doesn't have a ring to it. What, when, how does that look like, give me an owners manual please?
It was probably directed at the soldiers and workers doing their jobs, people that had to be there, or people caught up in the group think mentality of the moment. Either way, Jesus asked for forgiveness for others when he was being brutally treated and in pain.
Could it be said that how we respond to crisis determines if we're a Christian or Atheist? When the pain, agony, fear, and weight are crippling - do we still love, cherish, and have the capacity to view life, circumstances, and others like Jesus does?
An old worship song I've sang a hundred times starts out "I'm forgiven...".
I don't want a church community to be "forgiven", I want a church community to be "forgiving". It's possible to mentally agree that you are forgiven but not be very forgiving. I think a forgiving person knows very well what being forgiven is all about. I think it's time I write a Christian song for myself about "being forgiving". That I move on from the 11 year old theology and nice, safe, Christianity of being forgiven and desire to be forgiving.
With my children. Around friends. In my church. In my community. Believing and hoping for the best in people, even when I'm driving. And in deconstructing some of the routines and walls in place that insulate, sterilize, and incidentally remove myself from people and places and opportunities to be forgiving.
I hope you forgive me for this........"Being forgiving is awesome....being forgiving is cool when you're part of a team...