Thought of the Day 06.10.09

“You have to forgive me because you’re a Christian.”

The problem with a person making this demand isn’t so much that he’s misunderstood what Christian behavior looks like so much as that he’s misunderstood where Christian behavior comes from.

See, my willingness to forgive does not come from a rule I’m obligated to follow. Instead, it comes from my own gratitude toward God for His forgiveness of me. In turn, I choose to honor Him by offering forgiveness as a free gift to other people who have wronged me.

But the fact that I am imitating and honoring God by offering this gift must never be perverted into someone thinking that he is entitled to receive it. The beauty of gift-giving is thoroughly soiled when the recipient tries to pry it out of your hands as an entitlement.

Even more problematic than this, though, is the idea that forgiveness is a transaction which I can coerce you into giving me through a show of repentance and a moral prod. Real contrition simply doesn’t behave this way.