Austin's Blog

I recently finished Timothy Keller’s book Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? and it was immensely helpful in teasing out the relationship between forgiving people for the wrong they have done as a Christian and yet holding people accountable by seeking justice. Tim Keller writes, “Why should a Christian seek justice? Because injustice grieves the God we love, it mars the creation we love, it harms people we love, and it even harms the wrongdoer, whom we should love and not hate. What is seeking justice? It is to speak the truth in love and to not shield people from the consequences of their actions.”

Injustice, then, is worthy of our disdain and our work to end or rectify it as much as humanly possible on this side of Heaven. In fact, love may move us to seek justice out even more diligently. D.A. Carson notes, “What this suggests . . . is that moral indignation, even moral outrage, may on occasion be proof of love—love for the victim, love for the church of God, love for the truth, love for God and his glory. Not to be outraged [and to not seek justice] may in such cases be evidence not of gentleness and love but of a failure of love.” Not to be outraged at the injustice within the world is tantamount to lovelessness or apathy. We care because we love. We forgive because we love. We seek justice because we love.

Keller was helpful to me for pointing out the fact that without forgiveness, justice will quickly dribble down into petty revenge where we want others to simply suffer like we have. The only way to properly seek justice is to forgive first. “Justice is calling the wrongdoer to admit the sin to God and to the wronged and to bear whatever penalty either God’s law or human law requires. Justice is pursued for God’s sake, for other potential victims’ sake, and even for the perpetrator’s sake. (It is never loving to allow someone to go on sinning in a grievous way—Galatians 6:1.) People tend to either seek personal revenge in the belief that that is justice or not seek any justice at all. One is vindictiveness and the other cowardice.” Forgiving the person who wronged you or someone you love because Christ has forgiven you frees you up to diligently pursue justice from a place of mercy and moral clarity. Justice-seeking flows from a place of strength, not weakness.

Gerry Sittser agrees in A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss writing, “Though forgiveness may not have an ending, it has a beginning. It begins when victims identify wrong done to them and feel the anger that naturally rises in the soul. They realize that what happened to them was inexcusable and should not have happened. Before victims can show mercy, in other words, they must claim justice. Before they can forgive, they must accuse. Anything short of holding wrongdoers accountable for their actions is an insult to the wrongdoers themselves.” Pretending like a wrong hasn’t happened or ignoring the call to seek justice for those who no longer have a voice may be options but they should not be associated with the Christian duty to forgive as Christ has forgiven you. Again, “…a desire for justice is not wrong. A person can both forgive and strive for justice. Wrong…is still wrong done and must be punished. Mercy does not abrogate justice; it transcends it.”

Why was this particularly helpful to me? Mistakes were made in January and my precious son lost his life because of them. I have walked in Christ’s forgiveness since I was fourteen years old. I wake up every day conscious of the fact that my billion-dollar debt of sin has been paid by Jesus Christ on the cross and I did nothing to earn or merit it. I could do nothing to earn or merit it (Eph. 2:8-10). No one who made those mistakes on January 17th, 2023 will be shackled and chained by my unforgiveness and subsequent bitterness. Yet, they also will know my fervent pursuit of justice on behalf of my beautiful boy. Proverbs 31: 8-9 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” My father-in-law said it best when he said, “The way you love Gabriel now is to fight on his behalf.”