I hate Communism. It makes my blood curdle and my fists clench. I often think communist leaders deserve the most heinous deaths possible. Preparing to enter a country which is still dealing with consequences of communist rule, the men behind the idea have been on my mind.
What is the proper response to them, when their ideology is so flawed?
I love mercy (when I’m the one receiving it). I even enjoy it when I can see the people who drank too much, cheated on their significant other, or lived behind bars receive it. Mercy can end there though. I don’t truly enjoy seeing leaders in charge of millions deaths given it. Nor people like Casey Anthony freed. I’m not alone on this one either, I’ve read enough opinion pieces on evil people to know not many would offer them mercy.
As we speak, Cambodia’s old communist regime leaders are being put on trial. Brother Number Two is one of those. Millions were murdered under his orders to create an agrarian society. Most are calling for his death or life-time sentence… this simply seems to be the only right answer.
…
My blood has boiled along with the rest of those who have heard about and seen the destruction Brother Number two helped generate. Senselessly destroying families, displacing communities, and harming the very poor they were supposed to protect.
Yet, I still wonder.
What would happen if instead of justice, Brother Number Two received Christ-like Mercy. Would he see Christ, if we poured His mercy out? Is it worth the risk of never giving him the consequences he deserves for the evil committed?
It is crazy, irrational, insane.
But then, so is God caring for people who defy, ignore, mock, and murder his only Son.
Thoughts?
Thank you, Heather. Well put. Thought-provoking. How many people have we “put to death” with words or hate or fear or judgement? Oy.
We have to take such an action seriously as followers of Jesus. Jesus’ calculus on the issue of justice seems crazy.
I’m with you, I personally would like to see him hang. And if they’re going to do that, they need to do it quick before he dies of old age.
I believe we also must recognize that those of us who live for Christ, as sinners saved by grace, were once in the same position as this man, and it was not anything of ourselves that has saved us. While the sins brother number two has committed are great, I would make the claim that he is no worse then we were in God’s eye’s before we accepted him. Our punishment for the sins we committed against each other, ourselves, and God may appear different to the world then his, but in Christ’s eye’s they were viewed as the same, with the same punishment deserved (Hell). As such I firmly believe that while we may have a strong desire to condemn this man, I believe that God would instead ask us to show this man grace so that God may be made known to him. Much in the same way that God showed grace to the prostitutes and tax collectors who were viewed as the worst of sinners in His time.
Keep in mind there are consequences for this man’s actions, which will be determined by those that have been placed in the position of power to do so. I just ask that we realize that we were no better than this man and in need of a Savior just the same, and ask and pray that this man may find Christ before his life is ended as well.
Allie – Thank you, contemplating how God works and views things is always thought provoking. His complexity never ceases to amaze me!
Seth – The idea of what justice really is has been intriguing me recently. In certain instances God is swift to kill (Ananias & Sapphira in Acts) and in other situations, when God’s own servant begs Him to kill the evil He instead chooses mercy (Jonah).
It will be interesting to see what happens to him, and how the people respond to it.
Chad – I love you! Everything you said is so true. That is whats so amazingly wonderful about His mercy – it is irrational & crazy to us, but exactly His will!
“I believe that God would instead ask us to show this man grace so that God may be made known to him.” I was hoping to get this point across- but failed too. I think that’s true, it is just against our human nature to trust God’s wrath is enough for even the worst evil man who does not repent.
I also really appreciate your last paragraph. That is the part of the issue I was forgetting: The importance of supporting the individuals God has put in places of authority. I’m thankful I’m not the one calling the shots.
Amen girl. Give it to God who holds the power to judge, bring justice, and redeem what was done. Can’t wait to learn more of what God is doing in your heart…. keep grasping it.
So, I’ve actually been pondering this post for a while. It is something that I have journeyed through and have thought differently at different times in my own journey through faith. For me, the biggest thing is that there actually are Sociopaths and Psychopaths and legitimate mental illnesses that effect people. These are real conditions that mercy and love do not change without also chemicals, therapy and whatever serious professional therapy is needed for the individual(s).
But… I also composed a parable of my own for thought…
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There was once a man who was merciless beyond all others. And he did horrible things. He would find women that were walking the streets alone and he would snatch them and use them for his pleasure only to throw them back to the streets with much less than they ever had before.
The man was also known to find children playing in the park and he would grab them as well and force them to do unspeakable things. And only sometimes did they ever find their way back home.
Why was this man able to do so many of these things? It’s a question that any who hears of him should ask. But the answer is rather simple. He did them because other people let him. Whenever he was caught there was no punishment. He never once was given anything, but what the people around him called out instead for ‘mercy’ and ‘love’.
One day, the man saw a particular woman and she ran up to him and said that he had taken her many years earlier and defiled her. But now, she was older and she stood before him to say that she forgave him. The man raped her until she died.
It was stories like these, of forgiveness and mercy that permeated the world around him, but never the less he never changed, but only grew bolder and his desires only more perverse. He did not care to join the others in their community of sameness, but he rather liked the power and the ability to get whatever it was he desired, with no consequences at all.
Until one day, when the man snatched a couple kids that he longed for in the park and a boy that was playing with them pulled out a gun and shot the evil man in the face. That man had not even a second more to breathe and he was not able to snatch the kids he had planned to steal or any other women and children in the future. He himself never hurt another soul.
Because he got shot in the face. He was dead.
The world might be a more merciful place, if those who have not power to give themselves a voice, are given a voice by those who have power to quiet their oppressors.
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Nathan,
I agree that there is a place for justice to be brought. God is a God of order – and because of this has blessed us with a justice system where those type of men (& women) are not allowed to freely roam continually inflicting harm on innocent victims.
We can both jump with joy that there are people standing up for the oppressed. Indeed, that is why I’m moving halfway across the world.
Thanks for sharing!
Heather