I have taken a few days off from posting anything on my blog because I have been spending my time reading through my Heresy of Ham manuscript. That being said, what I want to do over the next week is to get back to going through Mere Christianity. I left off a few weeks ago half way through Book 3. The rest of Book 3 deals with the following topics: forgiveness, pride, charity, hope, and faith. And so, for the next week, that’s what I’m going to cover.
Forgiveness
I had actually written about forgiveness in an earlier blog, so I encourage you to read that post. Here, though, I am going to summarize C.S. Lewis’ thoughts on forgiveness, namely the Christian command to love our enemies. Not only that, but we are told that if we do not forgive our enemies, that we will not be forgiven. Needless to say, that is a tall order. We immediately tend to think of the most hated, hurtful people that exist, and think, “If I don’t forgive that guy, then I won’t be forgiven?” That’s harsh!
Well, says Lewis, maybe it would be wise not to start with having to forgive Hitler or Bin Laden. Start smaller…and while you’re at it, think about what “loving your neighbor” really means. Simply put, “loving your neighbor” doesn’t mean that you have to convince yourself that he is a really nice guy after all. If you say, “You know, those ISIS fighters…I’m sure they’re just misunderstood! They’re really devoted to God actually!”—if you say that, you’re an idiot and fool. No—they decapitate children, rape women, and burn people alive. ISIS is evil.
…and that’s the thing. We are called to forgive them, despite the fact they are clearly evil. You can hate what someone does, though, without hating the man himself. We do it all the time, actually, with ourselves. We can all think of things we’ve done that we hate—but why do we hate those things? Because we love ourselves and want ourselves to be better. That’s the nature of “loving your neighbor” and “forgiving your enemy.” Hate what they do, for sure—but forgive them and love them in the hope that they will turn from those things and be the kind of people God created them to be.
Incidentally, the following video clip shows an Iraqi Christian girl talking about how she loves and prays for ISIS. If that isn’t convicting, I don’t know what is.
Punishing: Shalt Thou Kill?
Lewis, though, makes it a point to say that even though we are commanded to forgive our enemies, that does not mean that people who do bad things shouldn’t be punished. God is a God of justice, and bad behavior deserves to be punished. Lewis then addresses the issue of capital punishment. He points out that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” is specifically a command not to murder. He’s right. You cannot use that commandment to argue against capital punishment, or as Lewis says, “All killing is not murder any more than all sexual intercourse is adultery.”
I would add that, although I support capital punishment, it is not something we should celebrate. As a society, we might have to execute the most dangerous, murderous people in our society, but we shouldn’t be happy about it. Lewis says the same thing when he says, “We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy hating. We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it.”
A great movie that deals with the death penalty is Dead Man Walking—I would encourage you to watch it and wrestle with the issue for a bit. It is not something to be taken lightly.
Forgiveness is difficult to be sure. Most of us will never be in the position where we have to forgive a murderer or a rapist. Most of us will be confronted with having to forgive someone who lies about us, who stabs us in the back at work, who cheats on us, who divorces us. It’s hard, I know. Don’t be upset that you can’t forgive that person right away. There are a few people in my life I’m still having a hard time forgiving. I’m not there yet. I’ll get there, but it will take time. You’ll get there too. If you can’t forgive someone right now, don’t beat yourself up—forgive yourself for not being as strong and compassionate as you want to be. You’ll get there.
Eventually, you’ll get there.
Well said.