My Dear Shepherds,
Picture a dad stretched out on the living room floor right after dinner, eyes closed, hands behind his head, just relaxing. Then out of nowhere, his 7-year-old runs in and jumps on his stomach. That’s what it feels like when someone in our church attacks us. It’s not just their attacks or sudden departure that hurts, but how unsuspecting and vulnerable we were. The oof of it!
When Jesus prepared his disciples to face the world’s hostility, he also gave us the spiritual standards and skills we’d need for the attacks we face from within the church. Those can feel more painful than anything the world throws at us because we thought we were safe among our brothers and sisters. And as pastors, these are the people we’ve loved and served. Then out of the blue, the oof of it.
What we do next is crucial and cross-shaped. Jesus taught us four mercy-saturated, specific responses: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk. 6:27-28). They require our own soul work even when we can pursue reconciliation. There’s no guarantee that our antagonists will be moved by our mercy, yet Jesus promises, “Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”
Then he said,
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Lk. 6:37)
At first, it seems that the promise sides of these commands don’t always work. Plenty of pastors can testify that critics keep judging and condemning no matter how we respond. That escalation is even more true of the Lord’s enemies in the world. We have no guarantee that mercy will change people. Mercy is not a proven method of persuasion.
Jesus’ assurances come to pass because “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28). Of course, the Gospel frees us from condemnation and guarantees God’s forgiveness, but I also suspect that God often allays the damages of others’ judgment and condemnation here and now.
The mercy we learn to give is never a transaction with our antagonists but there is a return only God can guarantee:
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (v.38)
The hard inward work of giving mercy for Jesus’ sake is rewarded in this life and all the more in the next. That said, none of us can ignore this responsibility:
He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. (vv.39-40)
Some teachers are pit-destined because they’re blindly ignorant of God-given truth. Others, because they know so little of mercy. They may teach God’s forgiveness, but they do not embody it. Their prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” condemns them.
No good shepherd can lead a flock to green pastures or through death valleys without practicing the rigorous, inward processes of forgiveness. God allows hateful or harsh people into our lives so that we, like Jesus, might learn obedience from what we suffer. But by learning mercy, we can celebrate the privilege of leading a congregation to the high ground of grace.
Be ye merciful!
