Guilt vs. Forgiveness

There's a thought that's been on my mind a lot lately. We have a hand full of "unknown" (wouldn't be writing about it if it wasn't at least semi-known) sins right now in the church. Now I was raised old school, "won't you come forward as we stand and sing". There were tears, prayers, etc, but public humiliation seemed to be part of forgiveness as I remember it. I tell you that, because it's hard some times to know what to do in certain situations. After all, prior to arriving in Leon, I never had to deal with a marriage gone sour, alcoholism and the like. Sure, they were all around me, but I didn't have to worry about it, "that's what the elders do". I never dealt with lies, pre-martial pregnancy, stealing, drugs, and the list goes on. Now it seems like we (Omar, Tana, Barb and I) have to some how "deal" with these situations often.

As I read through God's word, I realize you don't see Jesus asking people to "get it all out". Confession, sure! It's written throughout the whole Bible, but this idea that everyone has to know, people must be scolded to achieve true repentance and the church HAS TO look down on "the sinner" for a time just isn't in the version I'm reading! I remember a friend telling me about "the elders" telling him he couldn't lead singing, though he had repented, until his girl friend "had the baby". There was a "time" of punishment that "needed" to take place.

Jesus didn't make the Samaritan woman tell the rest of the town about all her husbands (they probably already knew). He never had the woman caught in adultery stand and talk about what happened (they CAUGHT her), in fact he drew in the dirt and took the attention AWAY from her! I know He would say things like "go and sin no more" or "your sins are forgiven", but the details of sin are never mentioned and He never brought those things up again while walking with the disciples..."this reminds me of the time when sister so-and-so did such-and-such..." Jesus seemed to forgive people and just simply let it go. The prodigal son wasn't temporarily "grounded" or placed on probation! The walk home and the prepared speak (he never got to give) was the repentance and the PARTY started the second he was seen from a distance!

I'm reminded of perhaps the hardest phrase in 1 Cor 13 when Paul says "love keeps NO RECORD of wrongs". In my life, that's just beyond what I can do. Maybe that's the point! "I", Shawn, can't do it. It's the Spirit living in me that transforms me to be a "forgiver". I entitled this little thought "Guilty vs. Punishment", because, in my experience in the church, those go hand in hand. We are all guilty, but we need to trust God to deal with the punishment. We need to learn to let people make mistakes and grow from them. Self discovery is a very powerful thing! I'm probably preaching to/at the choir, because I'm the one struggling with this after all. I know there is a time and place for everything, but I'm trying to learn to error on the side of grace if an error has to be made and forgive like Jesus forgave.