Christians who have forgiven much
“Alan was a man who was driven by love and compassion and he would not want any of us to hold on to feelings of hate and unforgiveness. So in honour of Alan and in honour of the God we both love, my prayer is that this story doesn't end today. My prayer is that Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster will come to understand and experience the love and kindness of the God who made them in His own image and that God's great mercy will inspire both of them to true repentance.”
Maureen Greaves is an amazing beautiful Holy Spirit filled gracious lady and a fearless Evangelist. Alan indeed a most generous and loving man - now with the Lord.
Maureen Greaves is an amazing beautiful Holy Spirit filled gracious lady and a fearless Evangelist. Alan indeed a most generous and loving man - now with the Lord.
Maureen Greaves is here following the example of Jesus, Stephen, Corrie ten boom, Nelson Mandella, Kim Phuc, Gordon Wilson and many more Spirit filled Christians, as she forgives her husband's murderers and prays for their salvation.
Comments
I know this may sound harsh, but isn’t she doing what she’s supposed to do? (cf. Lk 17:10) I’ve been a member of several churches (four years in an Evangelical Anglican Church and 20 odd years in a middle of the road Anglican church) so I can understand why you have highlighted a Christian’s forgiveness as something to be marked out! I have met people who are just as forgiving outside of churches; yet within churches unforgiveness and bearing grudges seems endemic with many! – and of course the schisms that plague Christianity are evidence of this inability to forgive.
If you want to take a theological look at this, then forgiveness is not a uniquely Christian trait, since all are made in the Image of God and God is able to forgive and therefore we can forgive. A relative of mine – someone I was very close to – was murdered. I don’t know much about his killer and can’t say if I forgive him or not. Forgiveness is not necessarily a nice warm feeling – if his life were in danger and it was in my power to save him, would I do it? If he needed help in some way, would I give it? Yes, I would, which is practical forgiveness I suppose. My mother is profoundly deaf – the result of domestic violence (my father punched her so often around the head her cochlears were irreparably destroyed). Do I forgive him – does my mother forgive him? Yes, we do – and again this is not a case of nice warm feelings. Forgiveness costs (cf. The Cross) but I don’t see it as an especially Christian possession. Christians have no monopoly on forgiveness and often mar their own witness by their lack of it.
Odd in all the legal fights of late (usually related to matters concerning homosexuality) there has been scant regard for Christ’s message of turning the other cheek and suffering for one’s faith – which is surely the greater part of Christian, as distinct from everyone else’s, sense of forgiveness? What seems to be the order of the day is that society should bend over backwards to accommodate a rather selective sense of righteousness (homosexual related in the main) and the demand that a person’s faith should have no personal cost to themselves.
Forgiveness is often a case of accepting circumstances, turning the other cheek – but so many of the professional martyrs we have seen of late have wanted their pound of flesh and the right to discriminate... but only when it comes to homosexuals (a sure sign of something fundamentally wrong with modern day Christian witness – if people are going to genuinely have problems with their ‘Christian conscience’ then surely the issues would be wider than just having to treat queers equally? Why have we not seen cases concerning social justice, the use of money, the treatment of the orphan, widow, fatherless and prisoner. No it has just been the right to discriminate against homosexuals and wear trinkets around the neck... How far from the Gospel have Christians fallen?).
Forgiveness is not just about ‘big things’ like a murder. It is not letting the sun go down on your anger (cf. Ephesians 4:26); it is not letting what people, governments, politicians or opponents say lead us into a narrow, siege mentality – nor the narcissism, vanity and inverted pride of victimhood. And at the end of the day it is not taking pride in what is a Christian duty. Christians are no better than the rest of us poor creatures – indeed they are worse if don’t practice what they preach.
Maureen cannot be fall foul of this condemnation – God bless Maureen!