Many people want those who do wrong to be brought to justice, but often neglect the greater need of those same people being brought to Jesus.
Before fugitive former police officer Christopher Dorner died under siege in a burning cabin at Big Bear last week, a friend of mine said that he hoped Dorner would be brought to justice, but more importantly that he would be brought to Jesus. This statement carries some weight to it given that this friend has been a part of the law enforcement community for about eight years. This poses an important question in my mind. How much do we truly care about people who we deem to have gone too far?
In his manifesto, Dorner wrote that he believes the Bible to be mainly a work of fiction. While I strongly disagree with that sentiment, in a way I can understand it. Many supposed followers of Christ and the Bible do not follow His teachings found therein. Among other wrongs, Christians often fail to be positive examples for those who do not profess to follow Christ. In simple terms, we do not practice what we preach. We discriminate, we oppress, we stand idly by as injustice upon injustice is heaped upon those we deem less fortunate than ourselves.
God is not happy with injustice, and His followers should follow suit. We need to stand up for those who are being discriminated against. We should seek to correct and prevent the wrongs caused by evil men and women, and this correction and prevention begins with us. Instead of seeking revenge against those who have wronged us we should seek reconciliation. If they reject our efforts, then at least we did our part. Often this act of kindness may not only diffuse the current situation, but also prevent future ones.
We often view people such as Christopher Dorner who commit terrible crimes and reject Christianity as being too bad for God to love. However, that could not be further from the truth because while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As the saying goes, “While there is breath, there is hope.” Let us not give up on others for God has not given up on us.
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Brent Buttler, who earned his MDiv at Andrews University, blogs at Educational Litter.