Mercy is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Biblical morality that is not shied away from by the typical evangelical spotlight. Its prominence in evangelical philosophy, though, does not mean that evangelicals understand it accurately. While the relationship between mercy and justice is vital enough to deserve another summary below, the best way to cheapen mercy receives almost no attention. Of course, grasping the nature of mercy and justice is a prerequisite to comprehending why mercy can be so easily cheapened by those who advocate it.
By definition, mercy cannot be earned or legitimately equated with justice, as only someone who intentionally forgoes justice after being wronged shows mercy. There is no such thing as a right to mercy, and there is thus no obligation to show any interest in mercy towards anyone guilty of an actual offense. No one can legitimately say that mercy is owed to anyone. Those who prefer mercy over justice (a destructive set of priorities) are reluctant to admit this in any thorough or consistent sense, but they also are prone to overlook another detail.
What few who love mercy realize is that mercy is belittled when everyone receives it without exception. The best way to cheapen mercy is by showing it to all people by default. If mercy is granted even when it is not rooted in an established relationship, strategic benefit, or likelihood of impacting a given person's moral trajectory, it loses at least a significant amount of whatever potency it might otherwise possess. Mercy has a greater potential to transform a life when it is used more sparingly than many Christians profess to use it.
Beyond this, to show mercy by default is to disregard justice, but more selective displays of mercy do have the genhine potential to make deep impacts on the lives of specific individuals. This impact is inevitably lost or diminished when mercy is offered indiscriminately to all people. Every individual is free to show mercy or withhold mercy from any specific person at their own subjective whims, but no one can be morally sound while defaulting to mercy in all cases.
CHRISTians, who follow & trust CHRIST’s example, know that He FORGAVE & interceded for Heavenly Forgiveness for the assassins terrorists & thieves who physically tortured & publicly & directly mocked Him when He was most vulnerable ( physically if not Spiritually ); these are the Spiritual Qualities CHRISTians possess & find comfort in :
ReplyDelete“But Iesus sayde: Father, forgeue them, for they wote not what they do. And they parted his garmentes, and cast lottes therfore.”
—#LukeXXIII34 #CB1535