When Judges Die ...

Torrential rains, and Cat 5 hurricanes, cause unprecedented damage in our world today.  To those in harm’s way it hardly matters whether the cause is man-made or random nature’s fury – it only matters that the fury is bearing down on you.  For any who have experienced a tornado it is terrifying.  A Cat 5 hurricane is like enduring a 5-hour tornado, with a bunch of flooding thrown in for good measure.  That kind of fury does not care who you are.  It does not care what you do for a living.  A supreme court judge is no different than an appellate court judge is no different than a county court judge is no different than an amateur judge on the sofa.  The nation notices when a supreme court judge dies.  So far, I don’t believe we have lost one to a hurricane.  The odds of losing an appellate court judge to a tragedy of nature go up simply because there are more of them.  But losing an amateur judge, the kind that sit on the sofa and render out verdicts all day long on one matter or another; well it is certain we have lost those types to storms.  Those kind of judges are you, and me.  And the judging we do is not a service to our nation or communities.  It is usually only an unsolicited (and unwanted) pronouncement of our opinions over the lives of each other.  Nothing gained by those pronouncements, but surely much is lost by them.

And in this matter, we are all equally guilty.  For all of us have sat in judgement of others over one thing or another.  We have assessed the motives of others as well as their actions.  We have condemned those we thought guilty of their various crimes, or neglect and omissions, or general misdemeanors.  When the TV relays the stories of politicians, we judge what they do and say as being part of criminal activity when those words or actions do not fit what we believe to be right (or in our best interest).  When the news keeps tabs on high profile court cases we are quick to offer our judicial assessments of what verdict “should” happen, no matter what actually does happen.  And we are also quick to dismiss the results of actual justice in our country if that justice does not concur with what we believe to be true.  Many of us believe Casey Anthony, George Zimmerman, and OJ Simpson – to be guilty – no matter what the court systems were able to prove.  Our racial biases may influence our positions on those three; White, Hispanic, or Black we believe to be guilty.  But it is hard to find someone in the US, who is willing to accept a “not guilty” verdict for all three of them.  But our entire American justice system is built on doing just that.  And our entire Christian religion requires much more of us than mere acceptance of a not-guilty verdict.

Our judgment is often quick, and in error.  Michael Brown of Ferguson Missouri became the poster child for the Black Lives Matter movement.  His death was a tragedy.  It was a failure of our society on many levels.  And when black men die at the hands of the police, it is understandable how trends can be drawn, and patterns adopted – even if statistics do not bear that out.  But no matter how you feel about the Black Lives Matter movement, or about racial bias in police departments at large, Michael Brown was the single most person responsible for the tragedy of that day.  The investigations conducted by the US Justice Department Civil Rights division, the FBI, as well state and local police departments all came to that same conclusion.  Not all of those agencies had the same goals or agenda during their investigations.  The nation was clambering for action to be taken against the policemen involved.  The press reported this incident on the hour.  And Mike’s name is still listed with reverence when discussing victims used to inspire the Black Lives Matter movement.  But the case on this, the specific case on this incident, found only that the tragedy that ensued happened because of the actions Mike took during the incident.  There were no charges brought against the policemen, because none of the agencies who investigated it found wrong doing on the part of the policemen involved.  And our nation, meaning most of us, have yet to accept that finding of our justice system.  Does that mean every case is wrong, No.  But does that mean, every case is guilty, No, it can’t mean that either.  There will never be a 100% clear cut answer.  There will only ever be tragedies, and failures of our society, failures of our people, that lead to sadness that lingers on well after the incident is over.  And what we judge to be true influences our hearts more than anything else.

And so we are asked not to judge at all.  Not at all.  And for many of us this seems impossible.  Judging is a core part of who we are, or rather, who we have chosen to become.  And this is not a new phenomenon.  It transcends humanity across time.  Theophilus and Luke faced this problem in their day.  Jesus faced it in His.  It is what killed Him.  It is what would kill so many of the followers of Jesus.  As it still does today.  Not the judgment of others rendered upon Christians (that is only a minority given the population of Christians across the planet even though it continues to take place).  It is the judgment we render on each other, that continues to destroy Christian hearts, and adds only to the tragedies of this world.  Nothing gained by our judgment of each other, but surely much is lost by the practice we are forbidden to engage in, yet somehow refuse to give up.  Luke zeroes in on this issue in the Christian church as he continues in the sixth chapter of his gospel, picking up in the greatest sermon ever preached.  Told by Jesus Himself to His followers, as relevant then, as it is today.

Luke picks up in verse 37 saying … “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”  In this single verse Jesus contrasts what we do, myself included, with what He wants.  We are not to judge each other.  Not in matters of motives.  Not in matters of action.  Not even in matters of sin or not sin.  Jesus did not put constraints around this idea.  He did not say – well don’t judge in matters of the world, but you are free to judge in matters of the church.  No.  He said not to judge each other – ever.  The only qualified judge is our God.  We are crappy at it.  We cause more harm than good.  It is no accident that Jesus followed the words for us not to judge, with not to condemn.  Have you noticed our judgements nearly always lead to a condemnation of someone over something.  We always find ourselves with a guilty verdict for somebody.  And we condemn them almost immediately.  We judge.  Then we condemn.  We do this to sinners most of all.  And it is sinners who LEAST need our judgement and our condemnation.  This idea of judging and condemning sinners as a tool of evangelism comes straight from the mind of Satan, not the lips of Christ.  It has the opposite effect of leading people to Jesus, instead it drives them away.  It teaches them they will never be good enough.

The only way to find relief from sin is to come to Jesus.  But you cannot be forced there, or frightened there.  You must see His love, and feel that lure in your own heart as a response.  You cannot do that when you are constantly bombarded with pronouncements of guilt by those who claim to follow Jesus.  That condemnation does not drive you to the Cross.  It drives you away from the Cross.  Better the judge be dead, than be the cause of keeping people from the only relief from sin they will ever know.  That means, the judge in us, needs to die and be silent forevermore.  Instead of judgment and verdicts of condemnation – Christians are to offer forgiveness.  That means, Casey Anthony, George Zimmerman, OJ Simpson, Michael Brown and Darren Wilson – should all be welcome in your church, your home, and your heart.  It does not matter what you think they did, or did not do.  It does not matter what you feel about any one of them.  Your ideas, your feelings, your judgment, your beliefs about them is entirely irrelevant.  Your forgiveness of them, as ideally they too should forgive you, is all that matters.  Your love of them is all that matters.  For your love of them, may be the only thing, that takes tragedy and pulls down the sadness.

Jesus continues in verse 38 saying … “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  Jesus reminds us of the cumulative effect of giving on our hearts.  When through our submission to Christ of our ideas, our will, our desires we are freed from the burden of judgement we have so long held on to – we are free to love, to give to others instead.  Forgiveness of others breaks the chain of hate that lies deep within us.  It is our own hearts we destroy because we refuse to forgive.  When we can love and give to others, we heal the damage we have so long done to our own hearts.  And what comes to our bosom is not the gifts of others in return for our own, it is the healing of our hearts that nothing else could have done for us.  This is not the idea of you giving to others, ONLY so they can give back to you in return and in greater measure.  This is the idea that the act of you giving to others, to those you might have previously thought did not deserve it, puts you in harmony with how God thinks, and how God loves.  That harmony with the ways of God, will heal more of your heart and soul than anything else could have done.  And more than you could have imagined.

Jesus continues in verse 39 saying … “And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? [verse 40] The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.”  We are not capable of judging because we do not see clearly into the hearts of men.  Only our God can do that.  But our God is busy forgiving, and redeeming, and giving to us.  If this is how our God spends His time, are we to do any different.  We can join with our God in forgiving, especially those who do not want our forgiveness, or deserve it.  We can join with our God in giving and loving, especially those who do not love us, or ever give back to us.  We are too blind to judge.  But perhaps not too blind to follow the ways of our God in forgiveness, and giving.  If we are to be perfect, we must be like He who is perfect.  We do not see well enough to judge, but we may see well enough to meet a need instead.

Jesus brings home the point again picking up in verse 41 saying … “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? [verse 42] Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.”  Too often we condemn our brother for some minor offense, while being guilty ourselves of a major one.  We like to think we know how to weigh sin, and determine which ones are the more grievous ones to commit.  Murder is worse than theft is worse than lying.  But pride began it all.  And lying made it grow.  Murder sprang from these earlier and more insidious sins.  Being gay was not the first sin.  And how we deal with our sins is not something I can cure you from.  My own log in my eye will always be too great to remove the splinter from your eye.  There is no weight of sin one versus the other.  And I am no sin removal doctor.  To tell the truth, I am not even a good judge of what you do, to know if it is sin at all.  I must trust in Jesus to address what is erring in you, as He does what is erring in me.  And I must trust in His love to be great enough to save us both.

This is not about behavior.  Behavior is merely a symptom.  This is about the core of who you are.  You do not judge others because it is something you do in your spare time.  You judge, nearly constantly.  You condemn, nearly constantly.  Because it is who you are.  That is what needs to change.  That is why the judge in you must die.  It must be taken from you before you will be freed from it.  It cannot just take a nap and leave you safe from it.  It needs to go entirely.  You must be made free from it, by the only God who is able to free you from it.  Jesus is the only one who can kill the judge in you, and re-create what He intended you to be.  He looks to transform you from dying bramble bush that you are, into part of the vine in His vineyard.  To make you something that produces a different fruit than condemnation, a fruit of love instead.

Jesus continues in verse 43 saying … “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. [verse 44] For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. [verse 45] A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”  What you say.  What you think reveals who you are.  What you feel about the criminals you believe guilty is NOT OK.  Those feelings are an extension of the judgment in your heart you still cling to.  To love them, to truly love them, you must think differently, so you can love differently.  To love like God loves.  To be the fruit bearing kind, out of the goodness of who you become.  Jesus tells us here, that it takes this kind of core transformation to produce something else out of you.  A real change in who you are.  Anything less, leaves a harvest unfit for you or anyone else.

Jesus continues in verse 46 saying … “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”  Yikes!  Let those words sink in for a minute.  That is Jesus talking to me, to you.  Why call Jesus Lord, why pray, why claim to be His follower – if we refuse to do what He says.  Christians who judge, are not Christians.  They are Christians in name only, but they do not know the Lord they claim to serve.  We are not to judge even in matters of the church, maybe particularly in matters of the church.  If we are to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps we could start by listening and then doing what He asks us to do.  For those of us who need a transformation to get here.  Let us submit ourselves to Jesus and find that transformation.  Jesus did not come to leave us where we are, He came to lift us from it.  But to be lifted, we must seek to be lifted, and be willing to be lifted.  We must submit to find ourselves in harmony with God’s ways.  Lose the judge in us.  Find the Jesus living in us.

Jesus concludes this sermon, perhaps the greatest sermon ever to the Christian church picking back up in verse 47 saying … ” Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: [verse 48] He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. [verse 49] But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”  There is a Cat 5 hurricane headed your way.  It is one of Satan’s making.  You will feel its fury no matter whether you are founded on the Rock or not.  This is not a product of global warming, it is a product of Satan’s intensity.  The fall of the home and of the heart, not grounded in Jesus will be great.  It is Jesus who says this very thing.

So I ask, who are you?  Are you the judge, jury, and executioner of your own heart?  Do you ignore the words of Jesus and continue to judge all matters of sin and righteousness though you are too blind to see either.  Or has your heart been made free of this burden, by letting Jesus free you from your own ideas, and feelings, and desires – in favor of His own.  The fury of Satan’s floods and winds are destined to rage in your life.  It is coming.  A many hour tornado with rains and floods that will flatten the home of hypocrisy without so much as a second glance backwards.  There is but one defense.  It is not the cries of agony while the storm rages on.  It is the transformation of your heart that precedes the storm.  It is your persistence in not just reading the words of Jesus, but the transformation of who you are, that would find you doing these words because they are a part of you.  Will this storm find you loving others, unshackled from the burden of judgement of your own heart.  Not weighed down with the anchor of condemnation, but instead lifted by the buoy of love that will not be denied.  If we are all to face the storm, why not head into it with the life raft of becoming the words of Jesus in action.  Let the judge die.  See the saint resurrected in you.  And survive the gale in the transformation of Jesus Christ in your life, not just reading, but doing because you are in harmony with who God is.

 

The Blending of Church and State (part 2 of 2) ...

This was a very unfortunate turn of events.  It made no sense to Pilate.  Why kill an innocent man, and let go a known criminal?  Pilate must resort to a plan B now in order to avoid being responsible for the shedding of innocent blood.  If there is hatred for Christ, perhaps Pilate can illicit pity for Him.  So John continues the story in chapter 19 and verse one saying … “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.”  This punishment was the worst the Roman Empire had invented short of death.  A whip was used with broken shards of glass in the tips in order to rip flesh from the body on its return.  39 lashes were given, as 40 killed a man.  Having endured this torture the victim would never be the same.  But from Pilate’s point of view, at least He would be alive.  The Jews would have sympathy and curb their anger having seen this Man so close to death, and enduring so much pain.  Pilate could emerge guilt free as he was now simply picking the best of 2 bad options.

 

But the soldiers of Pilate had no philosophical idealism regarding truth.  They were men of blood.  They fought to live, and hated their enemies.  To them, Christ must have been guilty of fomenting revolt or Pilate would have never had Him punished so violently.  So the soldiers took it upon themselves to add to the punishment of their perceived enemy.  John continues in verse 2 … “And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, [verse 3] And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.”  This was not done at the direction of Pilate.  Pilate was looking for a way out of this, not to simply be cruel.  Had cruelty been his goal, he could have simply elected to see Christ die on the cross from moment number one.  Though the acts of the soldiers would only lend credence to his plans now.  He could display the broken abused body of Christ, the humiliation He had endured, and hope to gain sympathy from this accusing crowd.

John continues in verse 4 … “Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. [verse 5] Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!”  Normally this sight would have been enough to turn the stomachs of the average citizen.  Only men of combat were used to seeing this much blood and pain.  This was sure to illicit sympathy, what more could anyone demand where it comes to meeting out punishment?  They responded in verse 6 … “When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.”  The response of evil to seeing that much pain and blood, was a demand for more.  Evil will never be satisfied until death is its result.  The hunger for more is ever present.  No amount of money, fame, glory, or gratification will ever satisfy the craving of evil, for evil must always demand more.  Where love would look at Christ in pity, even Pilate looked at Christ with pity.  Evil has no pity.  The demand of these men keeping themselves pure to partake of the Passover was for death.

Pilate responds in the same verse, effectively saying, “fine” go do it yourselves then, because I will not condemn him.  Pilate adds He has done nothing wrong, there is no fault in Him.  Even under the duress of the worst punishment Rome could envision before death; Christ has done nothing from which to find fault.  He has confessed no wrong doing, because He has done no wrongdoing.  He is a truly innocent man.  Pilate has never seen this before.  Most of us have done something we are not proud of.  When faced with nearly life ending torture and pain we are more likely to confess it, to get the pain to end.  But Christ had no such option, because He had done nothing wrong.  Pilate could simply not figure out why these men had it in for Christ.  But the Jews began to enlighten him when they responded in verse 7 … “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

There it is; the reason behind the hatred.  The pious Jews had found someone who they were not holier than.  They did not want to accept that “this” was the embodiment of their God on earth.  Pilate had been informed about the prophecies of the Messiah.  He understood the idea of a God walking among men.  His own Roman religions, based on those of the Greeks that preceded them, told stories of gods among men who carried with them great power.  Jesus had just told Pilate that He was a king, but not a king of this world.  Perhaps Jesus came from another world entirely.  Perhaps Jesus was from Olympus, or Jupiter, or Mars.  Now the miracles made sense.  The Jews believed in only one God and they did not want Jesus to be it.  But Pilate now saw how a diety might be a very real threat to the Jewish religion.  However the worse threat was to Pilate.  Could Pilate judge a real god?

John continues in verse 8 … “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; [verse 9] And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.”  Pilate’s wife had a dream to avoid this man before him.  In Roman culture dreams were valued.  Pilate heard about all the miracles and now feared they were not stories, but in fact were true.  What is worse, what if the Jews were essentially correct?  What if this was the actual son of the only true God?  He asks Jesus to say where He is from.  But this time Jesus is silent.  The silence is worse for Pilate.  He sees He is uncovering truth.  Jesus likely is a god, but what if He is the real God?  Pilate attempts to assert power to get Christ to answer His questions.  He already knows torture won’t work.  Jesus has already been through more of that than any other prisoner he keeps.  So He tries to use the lure of freedom to get Christ to respond saying in verse 10 … “Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?”  Pilate could still kill Him, but more to the goal of he wanted to do, he wanted to release Him.

Jesus responds to Pilate in verse 11 … “Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.”  He does not deny He is a God.  What if Jesus is the God of Truth?  What if that is His special power?  Jesus recognizes that power comes from God above, and so tells Pilate that he is where he is, because of the power of God.  Pilate now sees that his own life is a result of the plans of God, the blessings of God.  Now stands before him, the God of Truth.   This is an injustice.  This is no longer a question about guilt or innocence.  This has become a quest to see the injustice ended.  Truth must be set free.  Truth must be restored to the world.  Pilate has abandoned completely his role as judge and now seeks to become the advocate for Christ.  He wants to be His defense attorney.  He wants to see Christ set free.  He now seeks every political favor, he employs every ability he has, to see Christ released.  He does not want the God of Truth to be killed by his own edict.  Taxes are just not that important.  It is likely then when he sends Christ to Herod to see if perhaps Herod will free Him.  John does not record this series of events in his gospel, but the mission of Pilot to set Christ free John does record. 

John states Pilate’s intent in verse 12 … “And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.”  Something was horribly wrong.  These people hated Caesar.  They constantly looked to revolt against Rome.  For them to be aligning themselves now with the very leader they hated in order to see this innocent man killed, was perhaps the best evidence that what Christ had said, was indeed the truth.  This king from another world, this God of Truth, how could he pose so great a threat to the Jewish religious leadership?  In verse 13 John continues … “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. [verse 14] And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! [verse 15] But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.”

The religious leadership had gone from accusing Christ to now accusing Pilate.  The reports that were sure to travel to Rome were; that Pilate had sided with a revolutionary against Rome, while the loyal priests were faithful to Caesar.  All the attempts to illicit sympathy had failed.  The crowd seemed almost more enraged.  The preparation for the Passover had already begun, yet these “pure” men continued to stay at the judgment hall in order to insure that murder took place, and Pilate did not release Christ while they attended to their religious duties.  No matter what, this Roman authority must be made to have Christ executed.  It was un-nerving to the priests to consider that in His brief time with Pilate, Christ may have made yet another convert to Himself.  If a Roman governor were susceptible to the teachings of Christ, who could possibly be safe.  The leadership had to insure the death of Christ, if that meant publicly declaring an allegiance ONLY to Caesar, then so be it.  The Jews were willing to align themselves to the thing they hated most, to see God die.  It is akin to having Jews with full knowledge of history aligning themselves to Neo-Nazi’s in order to see one of their own put to death.   The people would hate it.  The people would not understand.  But they so needed to see this threat to their control killed, they were willing to say anything, align with the devil himself, to see Christ killed once and for all.

The Jewish religious leaders would allow no compromise.  They would allow for nothing other than death.  So despite his best efforts, the only way to release Christ now, was to start a revolution of his own.  Pilate would be required to give his own life to see Christ released.  The costs were just too high.  Perhaps Pilate reasoned that the other gods might intervene on Christ’s behalf.  But no matter his thinking, whether it was weakness, or just exhaustion that led to capitulation, he finally gave in.  John records in verse 16 … “Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.”  It is the ultimate of ironies that in the union of Church and State, it became State who sought desperately to escape the union and see justice and mercy prevail.   Church was bent on murder.  Church ALWAYS is.  The compulsion of the conscience through law has no other end game than the murder of dissent.  State is merely the tool of murder, but it is Church that drives it, and allows for no other outcome.  Had Christ been arrested and tried by Roman authorities without any intervention or interest from the priests, He would have been released, likely without even the scouring.  Pilate was done with the question of His guilt in only a brief initial encounter.  State would have seen Christ set free.  It was Church that demanded He be killed.

When modern Christians seek to reunite Church and State, when they label this effort a return to family values, they put themselves on the same path that killed the Son of God.  A return to the values of God cannot be done by the pen of our lawmakers.  It can only be accomplished by our individual submission to Christ and His transformative love.  Our religious values need no “protection” the State can offer, rather they cannot be bound or benefited by anything the State purports to control.  Pilate had no authority that God had not granted him.  Our religion does not need the shackles of a partnership with the State.  It needs for us to embrace the love of Christ so fully that our very existence changes the world around us, and impacts each life we encounter.  This is the way to change the world for the better, to demonstrate love in action.  Control is not the province of our God.  It is not His way to end conflict.  Love is.  Choice is.  Freedom that results from it is.  Let us abandon the ideas of re-uniting with the power of the State, and seek instead to be re-united with the power of Love that comes from Christ alone.

 

The Blending of Church and State (part 1 of 2) ...

There are those who believe that morality should be legislated.  They are not content to simply offer laws that prevent one person from damaging another, but rather believe we should extend the laws to make religious doctrine and belief the law of the land.  In effect, they would wish to have the full power of the State, to enforce that in which they believe.  Majority fundamentalist law is not ever a good thing.  Christians despise the idea of having to live under Muslim Sharia law.  But these same Christians see their own beliefs as under attack by atheists and Islamists, and so to “protect” themselves and their way of life, would gladly vote Christian principles and beliefs into our government enforced law.  Neither Christian nor Muslim would enjoy living under the most stringent Jewish fundamentalist laws.  Going back in history when the Catholic Church held heavy influence over the governments of Europe, vast killings were done in the name of God.  Tracing back further, John records the fate of Christ, when the Religion that had its roots and establishment by God through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses joined with the State power of Rome to decide the fate of Son of God.  The results are always the same when control is attempted over the conscience.  To ever have perfect freedom, love must be a choice, not a compulsion.

When we seek to take away the choice of what to believe, by the power of the State, it only ever ends in the death of the opposition.  John records the most poignant of examples in his gospel, chapter 18, and beginning in verse 28 … “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.”  The religious leadership of God’s church delivered Christ to Rome in order to be put to death.  The governor Pilate had not asked for this, he had not sought it.  Christ was brought to him, in order to be condemned to death.  Note that even while conducting a conspiracy to commit murder, the religious leaders are careful to “follow the rules” of their traditions, attempting not to “defile” themselves in order that they may eat the Passover.  As such they do not go all the way into the judgment hall of Pilate where they intend Christ to be condemned.  Observance of the Passover has become a highly regimented event of purported great significance throughout the nation.  It offers the religious elite an opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of the nation why they are holier than them.  It affirms their control over the people.

The words of Christ to the Samaritan woman that foretold the loss of significance about where people worshipped God, would completely undo the influence of the Pharisees over the people.  Without a specific temple, in a specific city, at a specific time – the individualized worship of God – would supplement all the traditions the Pharisees had established over the people to keep them under control.  Take for example the refusal to enter Pilate’s judgment hall.  Since when is entry into any building forbidden by the laws, intentions, and values of God?  The purpose for which we enter a building may run counter to the love of God, but the building itself has no moral significance.  It is merely a structure made of wood or stone.  Examine also the hypocrisy that allows money changers to literally take over the temple, cheating the worshippers and providing kick-backs to the priests during the holiest of feasts.  This practice was not prohibited it was encouraged.  Examine also the hypocrisy of a conspiracy to commit murder that is the purpose of their visit to Pilate, and yet they still believe themselves “pure” enough to partake of the Passover so long as they do not enter a particular structure while accomplishing the goal of murder of the innocent.  This is the extent to which the mind will rationalize its own evil when religion is used to kill others.

The religious leaders have convinced themselves, that as long as they do not personally kill Him, the blood of Christ will be on the hands of the Romans.  They take no personal accountability for the capture and arrest in the garden, for the mocking, insults, and beating during their examination of Him, nor for their complete inability to find one real fault in Him.  They act as if they accidently discovered Christ in the hands of Pilate about to be condemned to death, and they simply had no response to this eventuality; instead of seeing how this entire series of events could not have occurred without them.  They forget the blood money they paid to Judas to betray Him into their hands.  They forget the council meetings they have held where His death was agreed to, planned, financed, and now in the process of being carried out.  Evil does not ever recognize itself.  Evil hides, rationalizes, blames others, pretends to be righteous, and when based on religious fervor – convinces itself it is the will of God.

Pilate, who I imagine was perfectly happy with his own evening’s itinerary is disturbed by this interruption, and is forced to see what the commotion is about.  John continues in verse 29 … “Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? [verse 30] They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.”  Pilate now wants to know why Christ has been brought to him.  The answer they offer suggests that the crimes of Christ are actually against the government of Rome (otherwise why would they have brought Christ to Pilate).  Pilate, thinking that Christ must have simply been a thorn to the Pharisees, suggests the next logical course of action in verse 31 … “Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: [verse 32] That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.”  Pilate is offering the Jewish leaders autonomy to judge a trouble maker and punish Him however they like.  But the Jews are not interested in punishing Christ, they want Him dead.  And they still want to partake of Passover, so they need the Romans to do it.  The typical Roman method of execution was crucifixion and the words of Christ about being “lifted up” foretold this fate. 

Thus begins the examination of Christ by Pilate.  The fame of this miracle worker could hardly be ignored, there were political implications to what Pilate would do with Him.  The chief job of the Roman governor was to insure the smooth flow of Roman taxes back to Rome.  Insurrection posed a threat to the flow of money, and thus it would be considered a failure by Rome to have it occur, or last for any length of time.  Pilate knew the crowds of common people sought this man out.  He knew that if the followers of Christ were to become enraged, it could disrupt the flow of taxes back to Rome.  So he begins his inquiry with the most pressing political question of the day.  John records in verse 33 … “Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?”  If Christ intends to accept the coronation of the people, or perhaps if He already has, this is something Pilate must weigh when deciding His fate.  Is He a threat already?   Jesus responds in verse 34 … “Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?”  In effect, Jesus asks, did my accusers tell you this, or have you obtained this idea from the witness of the people or perhaps a personal encounter?  The subtlety here in the answer of Christ, is that He has made no such declaration, and His predicament would suggest no earthly kingship.

Pilate responds with a sarcastic comment in verse 35 … “Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?”  Pilate is NO Jew, He is a Roman governor.  Pilate will have had no personal encounter with Christ up to now.  But in any case, the Jewish people have brought one of their own to a Roman for execution.  This is not a common event.  Further the High Priest and leadership of the religion have brought Christ here.  So Pilate wonders what Jesus has done to merit such disfavor among His own people.  Jesus responds in verse 36 … “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”  Notice first, that Jesus does not see the need for a fight against Rome even if He had been the king of this people, rather His servants would have fought to keep Him from being delivered to “the Jews”.  Interesting that even if He were the King of these people He intended no threat to Rome.  So even if guilty of what His accusers said, Pilate would have no interest in the accusation as Christ posed no threat to Rome.  But what Jesus was actually saying was something a bit deeper.  He was a King, but not a King over the world of evil in which we live.  His Kingship was over our hearts in order to break our chains to evil, and restore our freedom to love.  That was the perfection He was here to accomplish.  Jesus sees Himself as a King over all people, in that as many as choose to follow Him, and choose to acknowledge Him as their King, He accepts.

Pilate continues the exchange in verse 37 … “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. [verse 38] Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”  Pilate upon hearing the answer of Christ believes perhaps He is a King, but just not from around there.  Jesus changes the direction of the conversation and reaches out to Pilate in a way his quest for Roman justice would understand.  Jesus says He is here for this cause, that He bears witness unto the truth.  Those who seek truth, listen to His voice.  Pilate, who has sat in the judgment hall many times, and heard the voice of lawyers and witnesses, knows full well that people bend the truth to suit their own purposes.  Witnesses contradict each other without intent to lie, but offer testimony that could not possibly all be true, as they disagree about the facts.  Christian religious denominations study the same Bible, read the same texts, and come to completely different conclusions about what the “truth” is.  Each believing only its version of truth is truth.  So Pilate responds with his most perplexed evaluation of this asking “what is truth?”  The answer was literally standing in front of him.  Christ had said it before; He was the embodiment of truth.  What Pilate was sure of by now, is that there was literally no threat to Rome, nor guilt in the person brought before him.  In short, Christ was not worthy of death at all.

John records that Pilate believed he had a way out from being involved with the condemnation of an innocent man.  The Romans offered the Jews a traditional prisoner release on the occasion of the Passover.  So Pilate attempts to make the choice a simple one.  He will offer the people the most notorious criminal they know.  Pilate will offer them a known murderer, robber, and general criminal that would threaten their very lives if he escaped.  Or, they can have Christ, who from what Pilate can tell, is completely harmless.  So in verse 39 it continues … “But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? [verse 40] Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.”  The people would prefer a criminal who intended them harm, than the freedom that Christ would offer.  The choice is no different today for us.  So often we choose the tempter who means us harm, than the freedom from pain Christ longs to bring us.  We like our addictions.  We like our misery.  We revel in it.  And thus we add our voices to those who prefer Barabbas to Christ.  It looks as though Religion is determined to make the State bend to it’s will.

But the trial and the blending of Church and State was not over yet …

 

Our Role ...

So often Christian witnesses take on a role from the analogy of the final judgment, they are not fitted to perform. And as such, they fail miserably at drawing people to Christ. A witness must understand his/her place in the “unseen war” between light and darkness in order to be effective. To that end we should first debunk a powerful myth about the “final judgment” of humanity. It is finished.

Yes, the verdict is in, and you, like all the rest of humanity has been found guilty. But before we get too far down the road on this, let’s begin with identifying the players in this drama. The most important role of course is the judge, final arbiter of justice and mercy. Our judge, even Satan recognizes as being bound by His own laws of love and justice. Our judge is fair, impartial, and cannot be lied to. He is incapable of being deceived so only the facts can be used in this trial. Our judge is God the Father.

In order to have a trial, at least a criminal trial, we must also have a defendant. We are that defendant. We are on trial for our worthiness to be accepted into the kingdom of God and His perfection. All of our motives, traits, weaknesses, and actions over our entire lifetime will be laid bare in this heavenly courtroom. The lies we have told ourselves to justify what we have done, are all exposed. The selfishness behind even those acts of kindness are revealed for all to see. In short, this trial will be different, because we will be unable to hide or exclude evidence. Our lives will be an open book for all to read.

We are accused of being unworthy of entering heaven. The accused must have an accuser, and so in our heavenly courtroom enters Satan, the great accuser of the brethren. He has a massive case file on each of us. Having been an instigator of, or present at, many of the wrong deeds we have committed in our lives, we cannot even hide the truth from him. Our prosecutor is convinced he has an excellent case against us, and that the facts and therefore justice, is completely on his side. He is right.

To defend us from the heinous truth of our lives is our advocate, our High Priest who speaks on our behalf, the greatest and only savior of the people, Jesus Christ. While Jesus will do an excellent job defending us against any false accusations, he will not lie, or cover up the truth of our guilt in any way. We therefore stand before God, accused of horrific crimes of selfish behavior, with full premeditation. For let’s face it, we always knew what we were doing was wrong, we just chose to do it anyway. So we stand charged of premeditated sin, premeditated evil, murder one, the worst of all crimes. And our sentence must be rendered by a Judge who sees all, and knows the truth of our guilt. And so we are found guilty.

There is only one penalty for the crimes of self-service we have been found guilty of. Death: For to continue to choose to embrace the pain of evil is to live a tortured life. To die then, is to be granted a merciful release from this self-inflicted pain of repeated evil actions in our lives, that hurt us, those who care about us, God, as well as our victims, and those who care about them. Our penalty of death is to be permanent, and the sentence is scheduled to be carried out very soon. This is the fate of all of humanity. There are none excepted from it. There are none who can withstand a trial of their life with the truth laid bare and not be found guilty and worthy of death. “No, not one”, says the scripture.

But then, a miracle happens; perhaps the greatest miracle in the existence of creation. Our defense attorney, Jesus Christ, approaches the bench and requests to take on our sentence Himself in our place. He asks the judge to allow Him to die in our stead, take on our punishment including any pain that may be involved, in order that our judge could still fulfill the requirements of the law, and yet redeem those who are lost and guilty as charged. The judge considers the motion. Satan nods his approval as he is more than willing to kill a God, than mere mortals weak in the flesh. This, he believes, will further his goals of becoming higher in the God-like food chain, after all once dead, Christ is less competition. The judge decrees he will allow the motion to go forward despite a great deal of personal pain on His own part. For you see, the judge sent His only son to be our advocate. He wanted for us to have the best defense possible, and now His sentence is to be carried out on His only son. Heaven mourns at this prospect.

Christ submits to our fate, in silence and humility. The God of the universe lays naked on the cross, the blood dripping from the wounds meant for our sin. He cannot see past the grave. He does not know if His own sacrifice will be enough to redeem mankind. The weight of evil He has never partaken of presses in on Him. Evil tries to convince Him there is always another way, He need not have to die, but He knows the truth, and the sentence must be carried out. In His great love for fallen man, for you and me, He submits to death, and dies on the cross for our lives, and our premeditation. In 3 days, just as He foretold, He springs forth from the grave. For He now holds the keys even to death itself. Still unsure if His sacrifice is enough, He goes to His Father. The verdict is in – His sacrifice is MORE than sufficient to redeem fallen man.

And so, those who are guilty, you and I, and the world at large – are granted a stay of execution. Those who will accept the gift of redemption Christ offers are to be saved, and spared death eternal. This gift is greater than we had imagined, for it is not just our final disposition that has changed – it is our current method of living life. Christ broke the chains of bondage that sin had over mankind. In His gift, He offers to change who we are from the inside out. He will change our hearts and minds so that we do not WANT to sin, nor do we WALK in sin any longer. Bit by bit, as we surrender to the gift of His salvation, yielding control of our lives and hearts to Him, He removes the pain we have so long embraced.

Perfection then, is no longer a far off dream. It is a current reality. It is a process we can begin in the here and the now. Through His gift, we are MADE FREE FROM sin. It is not by our actions, or our will, that we are set free, but by His divine power in our lives. We are born again, that is remade in His image, with His desires in our hearts, with His love in our minds. We are NEW creations, because our creator begins His work within us NOW! And THIS is what we have been called into existence to witness of – the victories of Christ wrought in our lives.

A Christian witness is neither Judge, Prosecutor, Defender, or even defendant. A Christian witness is one who is already chosen to be redeemed, and is now testifying as to what God is doing in our lives this day. We are stating what we have seen with our own eyes, in our own lives, by His power and His grace. We become character witnesses not to each other, but to our Lord and Savior. We testify that His gift works. His gift is the freedom we have long sought from the pain of sin and evil. We testify that ONLY Christ can SAVE fallen man from himself and his own desire to serve self. This is our only role in the judgment.

We have nothing to do with identifying the sins that plague the world and each other. The Holy Spirit will alone convict of this. We do not save each other, as only the Savior, can save from sin itself. We do not chastise or carry our sentences on each other as only the judge can render a sentence, and see it carried out. We do not condemn, or judge, or even remark the spiritual condition of others. We ONLY testify as to what God has done for us. Where it comes to our fellow man, we are to strictly follow the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ – LOVE one another, Love your enemies, Love unconditionally everyone. We are to love more than just those who love us. For so it was that God loved us while we were yet His enemy. We cannot love the sins and pains that others embrace, in this we feel as He felt for them, pity. But we can remain steadfast in our love of the person, and see them through the eyes of our God, see them without the sins they carry now, as Christ saves them just as He saves us.

We can finally trust God to save those we love, as we trust Him to save us from us. We are now free to love, without fear, without prejudice or pre-judgment. We are free to see the worth of every man. We are free to love the uniqueness of each individual and respect the differences between us. For we know God will lead every willing heart to His truth, in His time, and in His way. We know this because He is doing it INSIDE of us right now. This is our role, we have been called to give witness to what the Lord has done in us. When He is truly alive in us, we cannot keep silent. We are incapable of not sharing the good news of our personal benefits from His victories in us. The world will be drawn to this love, and this testimony, but only when it is real and meaningful in our lives. If the world is not knocking on your door yet, perhaps you do not have enough to offer it of Him. Let Christ truly change you, and your door will hardly cease from inquiry. Just remember your role when it does, you are a witness of His grace in action in you, nothing more …

Our Message

There is a reason witnesses are called into court, it is because they have firsthand knowledge of an event. They have seen it with their own eyes, done it with their own hands, or have been a material part of something that allows them to offer firsthand testimony on the subject. Christian Witnessing then, by definition should be a personal testimony of the effects of Christ in YOUR life. I don’t really care to hear testimony about what Christ did in someone else’s life, for that I would talk to them. I can read about what Christ has done in scripture for myself. What I need you for, is something only you are qualified to talk about – what Christ has done to save YOU.

So then what is the message of a Christian Witness? What is it we offer to the world? How is living the life of a Christian comparatively better than living an agnostic life, an atheistic life, the life of Buddhist, Muslim, or other theist. Forgiveness is a start. Our God offer the chance to start over, to begin again, no matter how many times we fail, no matter what the reason for our failure, He is always willing to forgive us and help us start over. But then so is the Muslim God of Allah. What distinguishes Christianity on the value scale against its other competitors?

You can begin to see why the personal part of your message becomes the key part people are interested in. What Christ has done for you has a substantial impact on you, and as such you can describe the before, during, and after effects of His victories won in your life. If you have experienced no victories yet, then I submit you are doing it wrong. Every religion promises self-fulfillment if you discipline yourself and achieve certain milestones of the belief system. Unfortunately Christianity adopted this kind of thinking. The problem with it is that it is based on the idea that YOU do the work, YOU make the achievement, in effect YOU earn your reward. Even within Christianity, those who struggle with sin have traditionally been taught to pray more, read more, study more, worship more, and make better decisions. But the responsibility for removing the sin was left with the sinner. This is mistaken. Salvation itself is being made free from sin. And it is a gift.

You simply cannot earn a gift, not only are you incapable (literally in this case), by definition a gift is something you may not deserve but get anyway. Christ is responsible for removing the sin in your life. It is His gift to you. To receive it, you need only allow Him to do the work He needs to do. Release your will, your decisions, your desires, everything to Him, and He will make you over a new. He remakes what you are, and who you are from inside out. He changes what you want, and how you want it. He leads you where you need to be, to truth you need to hear, and in ways you cannot imagine. But then you were not supposed to imagine, you were simply supposed to be led. When Christ takes that sin from you, that you have simply been unable to defeat, you experience His freedom. You experience His Salvation. His gift is opened and realized in YOUR life. And FINALLY you have something to talk about.

Prior to this, Christians would be better off keeping the mouth closed, and the will submitted. Until you have one of His victories to celebrate you have nothing more to offer the world than it can find somewhere else. But once the SAVIOR of YOUR life, removes sin from you, and changes even your desires for that old bad habit, you have something to praise God for, and now have something the world will envy. People look for quick easy answers. They do not wish to hear that submitting the will to Christ is not easy. It turns out the guy in the mirror is a survivor who does not wish to die. He will fight hard to maintain control, and keep Christ at a distance. The devil will not simply allow you a clear pathway to bliss. He is bound to keep your focus on the demands of the day, until you feel as though you have no time to pray the prayer of submission. Safely distracted from the daily prayer to our Savior, Satan is free to intervene and rekindle old bad habits. Success without submission has already been demonstrated as impossible.

Christians have traditionally adopted the idea that our witness should be a fight against the prevailing evils we see around us, and particularly in others we wish to save. This is mistaken. It is NOT our job to identify sin, point out the obvious, and condemn it as it deserves. If this were to be our role, we would have done well never to focus on anyone outside of the mirror. Our focus as witnesses should not be centered on our failures, or on the shortcomings of others, but on the victories Christ has worked within US. This is the only thing we are qualified to discuss. Christ made the analogy of trying to remove a splinter from your brother’s eye while having an entire log in your own. It is NOT our job to fight sin, even in our own lives, it is Christ’s job alone. Only He can defeat it. Only He can bring victory to you, and in you, YOU cannot. It leaves you with discussing WHAT Christ does for you, often without even knowing how He did it, as He was the one who did the actual work. You just were given the victory.

A witness should never attempt to be the judge, the prosecutor, or the defense attorney – these roles have already been taken in the heavenly courts. God is our Judge. Christ our advocate. Satan our prosecutor. And we are guilty as charged. But then a funny thing happens, our defense lawyer takes on our sentence Himself in our place. Thus there is no fear of a coming judgment, our sentence has already been given and carried out on Calvary. We don’t die because He did for us. We get His life, and His reward as a complete gift. We are only qualified to focus on what we have witnessed, our defense lawyer taking our place, and doing the work needed to save us Himself. This is the difference between Christianity and its other contemporary competitors. Our religion is based on a Savior. Mankind needs a savior in order to stop sinning. We simply cannot beat evil ourselves. It takes a Messiah, to end the bondage we suffer from to serve ourselves at the expense of others. We must be reborn to see the wisdom in serving others ahead of self.

And what does Christ put in the place of the sin He removes – LOVE. The Author of love, teaches us daily how to love like He does it. We begin to see others through His eyes. We begin to see scripture and truth through His prism of redemptive love. Stories that used to focus on failure and violence are now re-examined and the gentle love is revealed throughout them. God did not begin our redemption in Matthew, He started in Genesis. There were times when evil was extinguished in the Old Testament as a foretelling that someday all evil will cease to exist. But even in this, the traces of love can be found. For it is more merciful to enter non-existence than to perpetuate extraordinary pain into infinity.

Lives lived with the submission of the will to Christ, cannot help but bare the hallmarks of that process steeped in love. And love draws everything to itself. Love is more infectious than evil, and even more powerful. As Christ adds victory over victory to the submitted heart, the level of love the person has increases geometrically. And the world cannot help but take notice. They begin to want to know how this is possible, how this is so. And thus a witness is created by His victories, and His love reflected through us.

We were not meant to boast about any of this process. We are to be humbled by the realization that our failures are only resolved through His death, resurrection, and strength. It is humbling to admit you are an addict to sin and evil, a helpless slave bound to repeat bad decisions, and embrace self-inflicted pain until you finally die. You would be without hope, were it not for the Savior of your life. In YOUR salvation is your testimony. It is personal to each of us, as we are all unique, created for a unique purpose in all of time and space. The song of Moses will sound just a bit different from soul to soul, as each gives testimony of the victory Christ worked in them.

Our message then is one of hope, found in our own experience. It is one of grace, witnessed in our own lives. It is one of victory that ONLY He can bring. And it is one of love that has no equal, no parallel in the world. To live this way is to finally live the Christian life. To have testimony of this life is the only message the world waits desperately to hear. Let us not cower back into a corner of desperate forgiveness, but boldly put our salvation on the line and trust in Him to actually save us from us once and for all time. This is the only life worth living. It is the only existence worth preserving forever. And it is the only message we can give testimony about.

Jail the Righteous ...

No, this is not the slogan of angry atheists trying to reduce the numbers of voting republicans in the coming fall election.  Nor am I advocating we jail anyone who believes themselves to be righteous, which ironically would probably reduce the number of voting republicans in the upcoming fall election.  But I do ask, is everyone in jail guilty of the crimes they were convicted of?  And beyond this why would Christ place such a high value on visiting the sick and imprisoned?

There was a recent story in the news about a man wrongly convicted of rape and murder who spent 12 plus years in prison before DNA evidence proved his innocence.  I wonder, is he the guy I was supposed to be visiting when I went to prison as part of my ‘Christian’ duties?  Should I assume that somewhere out there is another innocent man, and God would like me to drop in on him to ease his burden?  After all when discussing the end-times judgment (or criterion) God thought important on separating the sheep from the goats – His question was did you feed me, did you clothe me, visit me in prison?  I note often He did not ask what I believed in from a doctrinal point of view, but He did ask about what we actually did for those ‘less-fortunate’.

Seems to me the greatest preponderance of those in prison are probably guilty of their crimes.  God would surely know this, so is He really asking me to visit the guilty?  Maybe this about redemption.  Maybe He wants me to bring guilty people the good news of the gospel.  Or perhaps He has a deeper intention in mind for me, after all, what is the difference between me and guy behind bars?  Yes maybe the guy in jail committed the crime he was charged with, how is that different from me.  In the eyes of God, are not I as guilty as the man behind bars?  Has not my sin caused pain and suffering as well?  To God, the guy behind bars is no better or worse than me, we look like brothers to Him.  So is that it?  This is about visiting family, and learning we are all the same in God’s eyes – maybe.  But there might be more.

What is the point of our penal system anyway?  We incarcerate those who commit crimes against us so that they will be unable to repeat their heinous action again.  This forced imprisonment also acts as a punishment to them for doing their evil deed.  We hope it serves as a deterrent to those would-be criminals on the outside to think twice before doing something that might land them in here (but statistics say this deterrent is hardly effective).  We talk about prisons as a place to engender reform.  That is the key isn’t it?  A place to go to unlearn evil behavior and relearn good behavior.  So why is the reform piece of our penal system in such miserable failure?  Recidivism is on the rise, and the argument could be made that prison only trains criminals how to be better criminals, not better citizens.  It seems all our punitive efforts have not resulted in many positive changes from this experience.

And it does not end there.  The idea behind serving your time in prison is that you are in-effect ‘paying’ for your misdeeds.  And though you may serve your entire sentence, your payment is apparently never quite over.  Your criminal record follows you on every job application, or credit application.  Your prospects for meaningful work go down dramatically because of your ‘record.’  If you were convicted of a sex-crime (and let’s remember the story of our innocent friend here, not everyone convicted of a crime did it), you must register as an offender which stigma GREATLY reduces the welcome you get in any living arrangement.  So let’s see, you can’t vote to change anything, can’t run for political office, can’t find work, or a place to live – if you are to survive what option is the one left open to you?  Note that military service might have provided a way out in the past, but in times of war, it is just another virtual death sentence.  Options for survival seem bleak at best, and statistically, we find our punished ones doing more evil and finding themselves back behind bars or worse.

What else could we do to deal with crime?  Take theft for instance, Christ said, if someone steals your coat, offer them your shirt as well.  How radical an approach is that!  Reward errant behavior?!  Give a thief more than even he thought to take, who does that?  What kind of weirdo approach is this?  What message would this send to the thief?  Glad I asked actually … perhaps it would demonstrate way more than any words ever could that someone in this world actually cared about the thief.  It might be the first time in the life of the thief that he gets to experience love and concern for him.  No threats of punishment.  No condemnations of his obviously wrong act.  No question about his guilt.  But in spite of his ugliness we show him unbounded love.  We attempt to meet his need based on what he took.  This kind of singular gesture of love inspires the thief to consider WHY anyone would do such a thing.  Returning love to acts of hate and malice has the most profound effect of getting under the perpetrator’s skin.  It is too hard to understand how love could be returned for hate.  They poke at it.  They prod it.  They test it again, and maybe again.  What’s the deal?  Perhaps this is the only approach that is capable of changing evil behavior.

Have you considered for a minute that this is exactly the approach God is taking with YOU personally?  You were and are guilty of crimes against yourself, those you love, and your creator – but instead of punishment for what you have earned, you get love instead.  Blessed rather than cursed.  Loved in spite of what you do, what you say, all of it.  You deserve to be behind bars, not because you have broken a law the US government setup, not because you might errantly be convicted of breaking a law, simply because your premeditated acts of evil cause pain to everyone you care about.  To protect you and those you love, you should sit in isolation of a jail cell; but that is not how God chooses to teach change in your character.  God reaches out to you in love no matter what your misdeed.  He gets you asking WHY would He do this?  And you test it, you poke it, you prod it, and you marvel at it.  But over time you accept His love, and in that acceptance are the roots of change in your life.  Reformation happens when love enters your life, not when love is removed.

I know we have hardcore evil-doers in our world.  Some seem almost demon possessed in their passion for causing pain to anyone.  Some do enough drugs to be completely out of their minds most of the time while they commit heinous acts.  I don’t advocate we open up the jail doors and let them loose on society.  But maybe we might take a minute and realize even the hardcore criminal needs love as much as we do.  We were ‘commissioned’ to go to prisons, to bring love with us.  Love inspires hope.  Hope can liberate someone bound to sin and give them freedom inside their cell.  Freedom the cancer of evil.  Freedom to reconcile with a loving God right where they are.  Freedom from the guilt of their misdeed, as they come to know the price for their freedom was already paid on a lonely cross 2 thousand years ago.  And when they realize this, and embrace this, we have effectively jailed the righteous.  The state may require its due, but the soul is made free in Christ.  At that point, the guy behind the bars is exactly like the guy who gets to go home after the visit – forgiven.