Radically Happy

Q. What principles define how you live?

A. The Hard Forgive

I can’t write a poem today.

Part of my daily practice is to read a devotional Bible passage, find an emotion or tension that resonates with me, and process it using poetry.

Today’s verse was about forgiveness.

In the shadow of the unfolding horror in the Middle East, I can’t boil that down to a single emotion. My thoughts are too tangled to weave into a concise linear rhyme.

Instead, please indulge me as I try to process them “out loud.”

Luke 23:34: Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.

Reflections

1. I understand the urge to condemn

Matthew 12:41: The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.

There is great evil in the world.
It is important to recognize that, confront it, and call it out.
Evil prospers when good people do nothing.

The simplest, most natural, and perhaps essential first response is to condemn that evil.

2. Condemnation is of the Law. Not Christ.

John 3:17: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

This paradox is at the very heart of Christianity.
Christianity is built on top of Judaism and the Law.
We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude and respect.

But we who call Christ master are called to fulfill and transcend the Law by practicing forgiveness, rather than condemnation.

Yet what does that even mean, when confronted by enormous, existential evil?

3. Start with Lament

James 1:20: for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.

I love anger.
It is possibly my favorite emotion.
Because it is both a great clue to what is hidden inside us, and a wonderful source of energy.

But anger is a stop sign.
Not a street sign.

It tells us we have a very important problem.
But rarely tells us the optimal way to fix it.

True lamentation — healthy grieving– is really hard work.
It requires deeply embracing the true horror of our circumstances.
Then somehow seeing God.
And choosing to trust Him.
Rather than our self.

In fact, I can’t help but wonder if this is what Christ meant by “take up your cross daily.”
Because each Lament kills the part of my Self that held onto a false god.
And self-killing is only healthy if it is offered as a sacrifice to the true God, rather than out of expedience or cowardice.

4. Seek to Identify with Sinners

Romans 2:3: So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

While the word “evil” has some legitimate uses, I worry that we use it as a way to distance ourself from other people.
Once I safely label you or your actions as evil, I feel better.
Knowing I am not you.

That is a normal human reaction.
Hell, Jesus did it to Peter!

But that is not the exceptional Christ-like response.

Christ deliberately chose to identify with us in our sin, in order to heal us and restore our relationships.

I’m pretty sure we are called to do the same thing.

5. Find the Beam behind the Speck

Luke 6:41: Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

This is the part we hate.

Our flesh screams “the problem is with them!”
But the Spirt whispers, “and also with you.”

1. I only fear the evil I don’t trust Christ to overcome.
2. And the reason I don’t trust Christ is that I believe a lie.
3. And the reason I continue believe that lie is because it is fundamental to my identity.
4. Because I am not willing to sacrifice that identity to Christ.
5. Because part of me doesn’t believe He is more good than the world is evil

6. This is the key to joy

Acts 5:41: The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

This is not a “have to.”
This is a “get to.”

Not everyone is ready to be a disciple of Jesus.
God created this splintered world so we could make our own mistakes, and find our own glorious path to redemption.

If you need your anger to keep you going, and you need to condemn certain actions or groups to feel safe, I totally understand.
I’ve been there.
That’s how we survive in this world.

But…

There is another way.

I pray you find it.
I pray I find it.
I pray we all find it.

In fact, I believe we will.

2 Chronicles 7:14: and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

See also: If I Were Hamas: An Exercise in Empathy