That ain’t forgiveness - 6 March 2009 |
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A while back, the Vatican revisited its previous verdict on John Lennon’s 1966 jibe that the Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus’. The announcement was made back in November 2008 in the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, which said:
The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a ‘boast’ by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll.
I’m not sure exactly what the Vatican says this is, but it certainly is not forgiveness. This is revising the original estimate of the bad-ness of Lennon’s words (which may or may not be the right thing to do): ‘We used to think it was wicked, but we’ve changed our minds – it wasn’t so bad after all.’
That ain’t forgiveness.
Forgivenesss leaves the verdict of ‘wicked’ on the deed itself intact. It doesn’t redefine the action as ‘non-sinful’, but instead announces that the offence has been covered over, and the verdict reversed, whilst simultaneously insisting that it was a sin, and it would still be a sin if you did it again.
Forgiveness (well, God’s forgiveness, anyway) isn’t a make-believe re-write of history, with all the nasty bits rubbed out. God lets history stand intact, full of the glaring horror of human wickedness, and at the same time declares, ‘I won’t count that against you. Or that. Or that. Or even that.’
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Romans 4:7-8)
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Bible, Godliness, Minister's Blog, Theology