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Cheap forgiveness

James Toews

“What is wrong with this picture?” asked Dennis Prager in an article entitled “The Sin of Forgiveness” in the Dec. 15, 1997 Financial Post. The picture that Mr. Prager sees is Christians making public declarations of forgiveness towards well-known murderers such as Timothy McVeigh, of the Oklahoma City bombing, and Michael Carneal, the 14-year-old boy who killed three students as they gathered for a morning prayer meeting in a West Paducah, Ky. high school.

Mr. Prager, a Jew who still believes that “a vibrant Christianity is essential if America’s moral decline is to be reversed,” sees something terribly immoral and in fact “sinful” in these expressions of forgiveness. “You and I have no right, religiously or morally, to forgive Timothy McVeigh or Michael Carneal: only those they sinned against have that right – and those they sinned against are dead and therefore cannot forgive them,” declares Mr. Prager. “Of course, Jesus asked God to forgive those who crucified Him. But Jesus never asked God to forgive those who crucified thousands of other innocent people.”

In fact, had Mr. Prager wanted, he could have bolstered his argument very effectively by quoting Revelation 6:10: “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” It is the cry of those souls who have been killed for their faith. And it is not far into the apocalyptic narrative before their request for justice is answered.

Forgiveness has become popular as the millennium winds down, but the brand of forgiveness that is being sold is a cheap counterfeit of a very precious biblical instruction. True forgiveness, as demonstrated by Jesus and given as a command to His followers, is God’s healing touch to a broken world. But true forgiveness can only be understood in the light of two accompanying principles:

Forgiveness does not precede justice. God’s command to His people is unequivocal: “Do not pervert Justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 16:19-20). This is God’s command to those who govern our society. The fact that we as God’s people are to forgive those who sin against us does not absolve society from its responsibility. A land where justice is corrupted falls rapidly into chaos. Outrage settles into its soul and vigilantism becomes a substitute for justice. Without justice, what appears like forgiveness is nothing more than partiality. We easily “forgive” those close to us, and mete out brutal vengeance on those without faces. Forgiveness is never a right – it is always a gift. The value of this gift is measured by the price paid by the giver. Jesus’ gift to mankind was all that He had to offer. He, God’s Son, gave up His position, His privilege and His life. That was the most precious gift ever given; its price is immeasurable. It remains the standard of forgiveness. Cheap forgiveness, on the other hand, when dispensed in a frothy rush of sentimentalism, lasts no longer than the passing glance of the media spotlight, and leaves behind a lingering bitter aftertaste. What does it cost me to forgive Timothy McVeigh? Very little. But ask that same question of the wives, husbands and children who lost a piece of their own souls due to Timothy McVeigh’s mad plan. A distant extension of “forgiveness” in the light of such pain is not a Christian virtue.

I hope with Mr. Prager that Christians will lead a moral renaissance in our society, but I believe that renaissance, if it happens, will begin with an understanding of profound justice – not cheap forgiveness.

James Toews is senior pastor of Neighbourhood Church in Nanaimo, BC.

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Last modified August 31, 2000.

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