Forgiveness Quiz #3

Statement #3.  Most Christian pastors and counselors agree about when and how forgiveness should take place.  FALSE.

In reality, pastors and counselors disagree profoundly about forgiveness. This is just a fact. Go to a Web site that sells books. Type the words “forgiveness” and “Christian” in the search box and hit enter. You will get hundreds of titles. If you had the inclination to order ten to fifteen of these books, you would find that views range from East to West, and not only among secular or Christian authors.  Even among Christian authors, opinions about forgiveness range from Maine to California.

You might respond, “I have no interest in surveying everyone’s opinion and listening to a technical argument about forgiveness.” I understand.  Most of the people I pastor are trying to get their grass cut and their children to baseball practice. But you must, and actually do believe something about forgiveness. Whether you think about it or not, every day you implement those beliefs about forgiveness.

Your convictions about forgiveness will shape how you respond when your spouse complains about how you seasoned the chicken.  Your views about forgiveness may determine how you handle a teenager that rolls her eyes, or how you relate to an abusive parent, or whether or not you go ahead and marry your fiancé, or if you should counsel your friend to leave her husband.  You do not have to read every book on forgiveness, but you may have to decide whether or not to change churches because of what the pastor or one of the elders did.  The forgiveness choices you make will shape much of your life.  For that reason, you must consciously work out what you believe about forgiveness, and then intentionally put those beliefs into action.

Of course, that begs the question:  How can anyone decide who is right when there are so many conflicting opinions?  The answer is that you must consistently evaluate everything against the gold standard of Scripture.  Be like the Bereans Luke wrote about in Acts 17:11.

Now [the Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Luke tells us that the Bereans were “more noble” because they “examined the Scriptures” for themselves.  The word translated “examined” is one often used in legal settings in the first century.  The Bereans judiciously studied the Bible for themselves, to see if what Paul said was true.

Be like the Bereans.  Resolve that you are going to work out an understanding of forgiveness based on the Word of God. You don’t need my opinion or anyone else’s.  You need to hear from God.  When you work through your personal beliefs about forgiveness, be thoroughly biblical.  Know where the relevant references are in the Bible.  When you pick up any book on forgiveness and read it, ask yourself, “Does this book plainly set forth the teaching of Scripture?”  How much is it really interacting with the Bible?

This is for sure:  If a book on forgiveness is going to be worth your while, it should be dripping with Scripture.