DOES LACK OF FORCE EQUAL PASSIVENESS?
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life. John 3:16, N.E.B.
Americans no longer call state prisons penitentiaries; they are "correctional institutions." This reflects a move away from the idea of strict retribution, toward the concept of rehabilitation. In the past, criminals were to be punished. Period. This was in service of society: a fearsome warning to dissuade other potential offenders from a similar course of action. It seldom worked. Once released, the ex-convicts were often more a threat to society than they were when first incarcerated.
Something had to be done. And so the concept of rehabilitation came into being. The goal is to bring restoration to the offenders so that they are able to integrate acceptably back into their respective communities. Because this ideal is not always reached, some people cry out against what they call the passivity of law-enforcement officials.
In a similar way, some Christians cry out against the concept of a God who chooses not to deal forcefully with injustice--a God who would rather educate and restore the sinner than to inflict pain upon him for his bad behavior. They fear that anything less than just retribution leads to chaos and anarchy. The understanding that God's justice fits not only the crime but also the criminal is lost under a barrage of text quoting and the solemn warning: "You're making God out to be too passive!"
To the contrary, God is anything but passive! In Eden He arrested the destruction of the human race by putting into effect a plan by which fallen man could be not only rescued but rehabilitated and restored. His is not a posture of weakness but of confidence in better methods. It is, in fact, a posture of impregnable strength! Only an insecure ruler needs to resort to force. By giving His Son, God demonstrated that He is capable not only of controlling the sin crisis but of resolving it.
If we obey God because we believe He will kill us if we don't, our loyalty to Him is tainted with suppressed rebellion. If, however, we understand that God is offering us the option to be integrated back into reality so as to avoid certain disaster, our hearts will be filled with wonder and love that He has gone to such great lengths to provide us that expensive remedy.
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life. John 3:16, N.E.B.
Americans no longer call state prisons penitentiaries; they are "correctional institutions." This reflects a move away from the idea of strict retribution, toward the concept of rehabilitation. In the past, criminals were to be punished. Period. This was in service of society: a fearsome warning to dissuade other potential offenders from a similar course of action. It seldom worked. Once released, the ex-convicts were often more a threat to society than they were when first incarcerated.
Something had to be done. And so the concept of rehabilitation came into being. The goal is to bring restoration to the offenders so that they are able to integrate acceptably back into their respective communities. Because this ideal is not always reached, some people cry out against what they call the passivity of law-enforcement officials.
In a similar way, some Christians cry out against the concept of a God who chooses not to deal forcefully with injustice--a God who would rather educate and restore the sinner than to inflict pain upon him for his bad behavior. They fear that anything less than just retribution leads to chaos and anarchy. The understanding that God's justice fits not only the crime but also the criminal is lost under a barrage of text quoting and the solemn warning: "You're making God out to be too passive!"
To the contrary, God is anything but passive! In Eden He arrested the destruction of the human race by putting into effect a plan by which fallen man could be not only rescued but rehabilitated and restored. His is not a posture of weakness but of confidence in better methods. It is, in fact, a posture of impregnable strength! Only an insecure ruler needs to resort to force. By giving His Son, God demonstrated that He is capable not only of controlling the sin crisis but of resolving it.
If we obey God because we believe He will kill us if we don't, our loyalty to Him is tainted with suppressed rebellion. If, however, we understand that God is offering us the option to be integrated back into reality so as to avoid certain disaster, our hearts will be filled with wonder and love that He has gone to such great lengths to provide us that expensive remedy.
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