In response to the one year anniversary of the tragedy that occurred in the small school house in Nickel Mines, Pa, USA Today ran an article discussing a retrospective focusing on how the Amish community has responded to the event. The article is fairly well done, and includes Q/A with Steve Nolt author of Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.
Within the article Mr. Nolt, who is Mennonite, relates that one reason that the Amish were able to so fully commit to forgiveness of the murderer is that they believe that in order to have their own sins forgiven, they too must forgive the sins of others..... I don't argue with that statement, but I will say that stated in that way, it places a great amount of emphasis on the thought, "I'm doing this in order to receive something in exchange." In actuality, my understanding of their motivations, and the motivations of other followers of Christ is more in line with this line of belief, "I have no right to judge others for their sins, because I myself am a sinner too. Furthermore, my Savior loved me despite my transgression so fully that He sacrificed His own life for me. Thus, it is a minor sacrifice on my part to forgive those who hate or hurt me. Any forgiveness that I afford is not to obtain forgiveness in exchange, but instead, is a response of gratitude to the One who has demonstrated amazing forgiveness to me already."
Once again, I encourage you to take a look at the responses to the USA Today article posted below it. Doing so provides some insight into how a lost world views Christians functioning as Christians. For some, it is hard to grasp the actions of forgiveness, but I can understand how confusing it may seem without the personal experience of forgiveness to form your perspective.
Within the article Mr. Nolt, who is Mennonite, relates that one reason that the Amish were able to so fully commit to forgiveness of the murderer is that they believe that in order to have their own sins forgiven, they too must forgive the sins of others..... I don't argue with that statement, but I will say that stated in that way, it places a great amount of emphasis on the thought, "I'm doing this in order to receive something in exchange." In actuality, my understanding of their motivations, and the motivations of other followers of Christ is more in line with this line of belief, "I have no right to judge others for their sins, because I myself am a sinner too. Furthermore, my Savior loved me despite my transgression so fully that He sacrificed His own life for me. Thus, it is a minor sacrifice on my part to forgive those who hate or hurt me. Any forgiveness that I afford is not to obtain forgiveness in exchange, but instead, is a response of gratitude to the One who has demonstrated amazing forgiveness to me already."
Once again, I encourage you to take a look at the responses to the USA Today article posted below it. Doing so provides some insight into how a lost world views Christians functioning as Christians. For some, it is hard to grasp the actions of forgiveness, but I can understand how confusing it may seem without the personal experience of forgiveness to form your perspective.
1 comment:
Great blog. I still can't understand fully how they can forgive someone so thoroughly and love them for such an evil crime. I can only pray that one day I'll be able to do the same.
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