Foolish Forgiveness

Australian theologian Fr Frank Moloney tells us, “The number of people who have turned away from the Church because they found it too forgiving is not large! Many have abandoned it because they found it unforgiving.”(Moloney, F. This is the Gospel of the Lord) 

It is astounding how often a small passage of scripture is used to justify actions quite contrary to the original purpose!  As with any large text, simply picking up the Bible and taking a wild stab at a part of scripture is likely to be unsatisfactory and misleading. Some scripture is intended to be read literally, some as metaphor, some as linking the Old and New Testaments and some again pointing to moral positions. At the very least, it should be read in the context in which it is written and in relation to other messages around it. 

Jesus, in this week’s gospel from Matthew (Matt 18:15-20), tells his community to treat anyone who refuses to listen like a pagan or a tax collector. On the strength of this some Christians understand him to mean, “ignore them or cut them out of the community.” Obviously they haven’t read down to the following passage where Jesus tells Peter to forgive such people seventy seven times (ie: limitlessly). And they haven’t noticed Jesus’ particular affection for people on the margins, especially both pagans and tax collectors.

Christians do need to speak truths and we do need to point out when people stray from the teachings of Christ. He authorises and commissions the Church to bind and loose in this context. We state the truth; we live the truth ourselves and we reach out again and again as Jesus himself did. And at the core of his teaching we find love and forgiveness and so we forgive limitlessly as he taught us, to the point of foolishness. 

Rather than pushing people away, we need to reach out to them as they are, without judgement or condemnation. 

Deacon Mark Kelly