7.03.2007
The Mutual Ministry of Forgiveness
The mutual ministry of believers is that of spreading forgiveness. The true repentence that needs to occur is that of our reaction to sin and perfection. The goal is not to stop sinning but to forgive in the face of the greatest offense. This requires a complete transformation of thinking. The accountability that we need to look for and set in place in the church is when one in our midst is forgiven s/he must go and find another to forgive, rather than trying to police sin, we allow sin to become public. In this way, we take the sins of others, the sins of the world, on ourselves as if they are our own. In this way, they are crucified and we are resurrected aknew.
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Justin,
ReplyDeleteI like the new blog template. It conveys an "earthy" feel; apropriate for your blog name.
I cannot say whether I agree or disagree with your post, mainly because I'm not sure I get your point. The idea of "mutual" forgiveness is reciprocity right? I do understand that. One who has his trespasses forgiven must also forgive others their trespasses. That is clear. But true repentance is not only a tranformation in thinking it is also a change in behavior. Sure, the one in our midst who is forgiven must be willing to forgive others, but s/he must also "go and sin no more".
I think it goes beyond reciprocity. It's more like pay it forward-- spreading forgiveness, to grant freedom and healing from the chains of sin, guilt, and death. I too believe repentance is a change in behavior; in fact, I would call it a change to a whole new way of doing life. I would say that this transformation of life is not just individual but corporate-- becoming a part of a whole community that grants such forgiveness. What would it mean for our faith communities (churches) to grant forgiveness to other groups such as terrorists and then find active ways to seek them out to say, "we forgive you."?
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