I have just discovered the brilliant blog of an Aussie, Mark Sayers. His post "The Political Incorrectness of a Non-Judgmental God" is spot on. I've summarized using the quotes below, but I really recommend reading Mark's entire post.
"Hell sure ain’t cool these days. The idea of a post-death judgment of our actions here on earth is repugnant to the western 21st century citizen...Partly this is because we who live our lives within the Western comfort bubble have become distanced from evil...
...But then I am taken away from my cafe table overlooking the world, and I find myself standing and perceiving humanity from a different viewing platform. My mind’s eye is now far from home in a different place where the wind blows with a cosmic coldness. Here no one can afford to be clever or have the luxury to pontificate at a distance. This place goes by many names, Darfur, Treblinka, The Killing Fields of Cambodia, The Democratic Republic of The Congo, Srebrenica, Rwanda, Ra’s al-Ain, Kolyma. Some of these names are familiar to us, some foreign; but we know all too well the images, burned into our minds from high school texts books - mounds of bones, cavernous faces and jutting cheekbones, sallow rotting flesh, zombie-guards, lonely barb wire fences, 12 years olds with AK-47 assault rifles, old women sobbing into shallow graves, dead eyes, and that black smoke that you can almost smell from the pictures...
...Standing here a God of Justice, who does not let the victim’s cries be ignored, but who holds those who chose the path of evil to account, strangley seems not just a God of judgement but simultaneously a God of love. As I stand here to suggest that there is no judgement after death seems a callous and horribly politically incorrect position to hold."
I guess my only question for Mark would be: How politically correct or offensive is the forgiveness of the cross for those perpetrators who receive it? And on the flip side, how politically correct or offensive is judgment for those who have denied the cross, but have not perpetrated such overtly horrendous crimes against humanity?
Ultimately, God is the judge of each person's heart - not me. So I can't say who's in and who's out, because that isn't my job description. But I still think these are worthwhile questions as we behold both the mercy and the severity of God. I really appreciate that Mark articulates God's judgment as a completely JUST action that is born from His love, and I would say His righteousness as well (not that He needs our approval to be who He is and judge how He wishes - He's God, not us). Righteousness and Justice are the foundations of His throne (Ps 97:2). When I think of righteousness and justice, I think of undefiled purity - everything set right (Mal 4).
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Mark on whether 'God as Judge' is PC
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sarah,
I think Justice is an act of love. Of course God isn't going to SMITE our enemies every time we feel wronged. But I do believe that God does take Justice into his hands, sometimes in this life and sometimes not. But you can bet that His warning about touching His anointed is no joke. I personally have seen this happen in my own life and the injustice that was done was not as serious as the obvious injustice and evil that are taking place in the world every day. But, I am persuaded that if He would look after me(totally unworthy and privileged compared to a lot of the population of the world)he Certainly will not let cruel injustice against the poorest and weakest of the world go unpunished.
When my wife and I went to see DC*B in Orlando, Crowder had a great picture of mercy and justice. He said mercy is when a group of us is standing by the river and people keep coming down swept away by the current, and we throw them a rope and pull them out. Justice is when one of the group says ,"hey you guys keep pulling people out, I'm going to go find out who keeps throwing people in the river".
I think God is definitely about the business of stopping people from throwing others in the river.
Peace
Shaun, thanks for your comments. That's a good picture of mercy and justice!
Post a Comment