Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment -- You Got A Problem With That?
I was link-wandering off of a favorite political blog yesterday and came across a personal/spiritual blog I’ve glanced at before written by one Dawn Eden. Her primary shtick, if you’ll pardon me calling it that, is the constant proclamation of chastity as a pearl of great price to be highly prized and maintained. And endlessly written about in blog and book, and spoken about in speech and media appearance. Not to knock the concept of self-control, but it brings to mind a paraphrase of the old Mitchum antiperspirant ads: “I didn’t have sex today, and I may not have sex tomorrow because I feel really satisfied even though I hormone freely.” But I digress.
The topic on hand (no pun intended) was the late Tim Russert, best known as host of Meet The Press. Ms. Eden referred her readers to an article written by one Hadley Arkes, whose central theme was, and please pardon the expression, pissing on Mr. Russert’s grave while calling it a shower of reality by railing against him for obviously not being a “real” Catholic -- Mr. Russert often referred to his faith in assorted writings -- because he didn’t make an anti-abortion stand strong enough for Mr. Arkes’ liking… er, assertion of Church teachings. Never mind that as a journalist it was not Mr. Russert’s job to promote his personal/spiritual agenda in the professional realm; while certainly all believers have a mandate not to contradict their faith in the workplace, this does not give free license to preach and especially judge others based on ones faith. Mr. Arkes believes otherwise. He also sharply criticizes Mr. Russert for his connection via employment prior to becoming a journalist with publicans and sinners, otherwise known as Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Mario Cuomo who were noted for their adherence to separation of their Catholicism and positions on public policy. Guilty by association, y’know.
Given that Ms. Eden’s blog gets more readers in a minute than everything I write put together in a month -- hey, she works at it a lot harder than I do and is reaping a consummate (again, no pun intended) reward -- the comments area for said post was a happening place. The thoughts primarily ran along two lines:
- Speak no ill of the dead.
- Mr. Arkes did us all a favor by calling out the painfully apparent heathen.
The former bothered me; the latter irked me. While I am a firm believer in as best as possible looking at history and those now part of it with a Chronicles rather than Samuel/Kings mindset, it’s important to also be honest and objective in such things. No one gets a free pass for the sole reason of being dead. That duly noted, the harsh judgmental attitude copped by many because Mr. Russert failed one of their litmus tests for true believers gave cause for me to do something I don’t do very often, namely leave a comment on someone else’s blog:
Last time I checked, God was in the sin-forgiving business.
Which fortunately includes forgiving the sin of those whose sin is not forgiving the sin of others.
No, there is no free license to sin because of grace's presence. There is, however, grace. It is unfortunate how the pursuit of holiness when colored by pride in one taking part in said pursuit -- an oxymoron to be sure, but a common occurrence nonetheless -- often deviates into attacks on others for failing to live up to holinesses' standards... not realizing the attack itself signals a failure by the one making the attack to live up to holinesses' standards.
Fellow believers, there’d be a lot more of us if we’d let God be God. What part of James 2:12-13 (“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”) aren’t we getting here? For further reference, consider Romans chapters 2, 12, and 14. It’s not that we’re supposed to sit around quietly and never speak up about right and wrong. However, neither are we called to play Avenging Annie against everyone who doesn’t in our view toe the line. Again referring to Paul’s letter to the Romans, note his quoting the book of Exodus when he writes, “For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion (Rom. 9:15, which references Exodus 33:19).'"
Mercy, people. Let's show some mercy.
ADDENDUM: The following is from additional comments after I left the one above.
Last time I checked, for us to repent and ask forgiveness of our sins, we have to know what those sins might be and face them squarely.
Not standing up for the most helpless when you have the opportunity to speak out is a sin, and should be acknowledged as a sin, a sin all of us have reason to repent of.
Margaret
And what would you have had him do, Margaret? Refuse to interview anyone who was pro-abortion? Should he have interviewed anyone who believed that way, grill them incessantly on that one point? End every episode of 'Meet The Press' with an anti-abortion speech? Demand those he interviewed repent on the spot? In which case he wouldn't have been the host of 'Meet The Press' for more than sixteen years. More like less than sixteen minutes before he would have been shown the door at NBC.
Tim Russert did his job week in and week out. He did it extremely well. To rail against him because he didn't use his professional position as a pulpit -- and why are there not more mentions of how he openly shared his faith? -- demonstrates a rather alarming propensity toward looking for reasons to condemn someone in lieu of accepting that despite his being as human as you and I, God loved Russert and from all indications Russert loved God.
There is no arguing that abortion is a hideous abomination, one that should be firmly opposed. But again I ask, what would you have had Russert do? He was a journalist. A journalist -- a good one anyway -- in the course of carrying out their job duties does not have the option of taking sides. Period.
Unless you live in either a cocoon or the Christian ghetto, every one of us every day has personal and professional interaction with people who are morally bankrupt and do that which is detestable in the eyes of our Lord. How do we see them? Reprobates? Heathen? Unclean? Someone at whom we should throw the Book?
Or do we see them as someone worth dying for?
Which, according to Scripture, is how Jesus sees them.
And before anyone labels anyone else not a true believer, please be reminded of a man who had an affair with a loyal, devoted co-worker's wife, got her pregnant, did everything he could to cover up what had happened, and when that failed arranged for his co-worker to be killed so he could quickly marry the woman to make it seem plausible she had become pregnant immediately after their marriage.
What would you call such a man?
God called him a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), and from him and the woman he married under the above circumstances descended the direct lineage of Jesus.
Neither you or I know what was in Tim Russert's heart. God alone knows. And frankly I'm more than content to leave it at that, for He is the one and only true judge. Our opinion is utterly without importance. "It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God (1 Cor. 4:3-5)."
I was a public school teacher for many years and my aggressive Christian friends always puzzled that I didn't feel restricted by the secular environment. Just yesterday I was explaining again that the school district had hired me to teach English, not Jesus.
I really like what you said here: "Never mind that as a journalist it was not Mr. Russert’s job to promote his personal/spiritual agenda in the professional realm; while certainly all believers have a mandate not to contradict their faith in the workplace, this does not give free license to preach and especially judge others based on ones faith."
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This is really good, my friend. Thank you for the reminder.
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