I’ve noticed something over the past few months that concerns me. At first I wasn’t quite sure what to think about it, but as I’ve had time to process it and see reactions to my stance it has been confirmed. That thought is simply this:
Everyone deserves a second chance.
I don’t say that as a political statement, or even a personal statement of conviction. It is absolutely a religious and theological statement.
2 people have received more judgment than anyone else over the past 2 months: Kanye West and Michael Vick. I can’t believe how many people have told me how disgusted they are that Vick is playing in the NFL again or how many people jumped at the first chance to denounce Kanye as a person.
John, who writes the Stuff Christians Like blog, said this last week:
I could not agree more with John’s statement. I realize that not everyone who reads this blog is a Christian, so this statement won’t be for everyone:
As a guy who has been given second chance after second chance from a God who continues to forgive, I find it repulsive that so many Christians are willing to throw around judgment so quickly.
You might say to me, “but Tyler, Vick and Kanye aren’t ever going to know how much I hate them, so it doesn’t really matter.” To that I would say: the people around you are watching to know if being a Christian really means that you love the unlovable.
Bonhoeffer said something so profound:
“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”
Everyone deserves a second chance.
