No Amnesty

There is a recent article by Christianity Today that has been irking me to no end. The title of the article is: It’s Time to Forgive Each Other Our Pandemic Sins. The subtitle reads, “As the Covid-19 emergency ends, the Church can lead the world into a spirit of amnesty.” I honestly have no issue with forgiveness, I think probably most of us need a little after the China flu and everything that ensued. But amnesty? Amnesty is defined as an act of oblivion or forgetfulness to persons guilty of crimes. Amnesty differs from a pardon in that a pardon relieves the guilty from punishment, whereas amnesty relieves the guilty from punishment AND declares innocence or abolishes the crime altogether. If you are a believer, it is probably obvious that both of these acts differ from forgiveness. Forgiveness releases us from the eternal consequences of sin, however, there are still the earthly consequences of that sin that we cannot escape. You might be like, “Potato, po-ta-toe,” but these concepts are very different. If I sin against you and repent, you might forgive me and we can start to work towards rebuilding the trust that I lost, but you don’t actually forget what I did, like it didn’t happen. Amnesty is the pardoning of a crime and the removing of consequence, all without any litigation at all. So, not only are you not responsible and not guilty of what you did, but we aren’t even going to talk about it.

That is where my dilemma begins. Evangelical leaders (who we will refer to as “Big Eva” from now on, like Big Tech, Big Pharma, etc) repeatedly and publicly told believers who chose not to mask or vax that they were being unChristlike, with no Biblical basis for that judgement. For at least two years! (I’m not talking about local pastors, I’m talking about the people in places of influence who direct and shape the way the rest of the church thinks: artists, authors, national and world religious leaders.) These people inspired a lot of division, criticism, and judgement amongst the body of Christ. As time has gone on however, the reasons behind those “unChristlike” believers’ decisions not to vax or mask… has been proven true (all studies show neither were affective and/or even healthy). But, even though we were not forgiven for our choices, or granted grace, and were treated like we were ungodly, unloving, and rebellious… we are now expected to offer not just the forgiveness that wasn’t extended to us, but also amnesty. Basically, “Let’s never even discuss what went down, Let’s just move on, Don’t hold me accountable for what I did or said.” Don’t get me wrong, the forgiveness isn’t an issue for me. I hold no hard feelings towards people who thought or acted differently than me during the pandemic. As a matter of fact, I honestly believe we were all making decisions based on the information we had access to. No judgement there. But when church leaders, who we rely on to lead us in Biblical truths, used their positions and platforms to shame people who made decisions different than their own, and don’t repent for their actions, whether they be mistakes, misconceptions, or decisions made out of fear or political pressure, my trust in their ability to lead falters. I want to discuss these things. I want to hash it out so I can feel confident that it won’t happen again. I want to be able to trust them to lead me in the ways of the Lord.

Just for fun, let’s use our imaginations. What if Big Eva, the church leaders we look up to, had repeatedly and publicly stated that the Bible was unclear on the issue of masks and experimental vaccinations and that we all needed to allow each other the room and the discernment to follow our convictions? Would any of your current relationships look different? Would there have been less rifts in your world?

Some of you might be thinking, “Jeez, Kjersti, you are being a little hard core.” Well, no, I’m not. Our judicial system was based on Biblical principles. When a crime is committed, there is litigation. There is discussion. There is responsibility, consequences, or restitution. You see this modeled in the Bible time and again. Even in marriage and parenting we model these Biblical principles. As parents, we are quick to forgive our kids, right? But if they never pay any consequence for their disobedience, rebellion, or mess ups, they wouldn’t learn, they wouldn’t grow. I’m going to be real here, in marriage, one of mine and Erich’s biggest weaknesses is conflict resolution. I won’t lie, it sucks. Sometimes it’s just easier to pretend nothing ever happened than to discuss, litigate, apologize, repent, forgive and change. But without change, surprise, everything stays the same. All of this to say, yes, absolutely there MUST be forgiveness. We must move on. But we must also learn from the last three years and grow. The same mistakes cannot be repeated.

Maybe you aren’t exposed to the same information that I am, and I give room for that. But based on the legal hearings I have witnessed around the world, the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers’ suspicions were correct. Our actions were actually based in truth, which by default, cannot mean they were unChristlike. I think there are still people who think we made our decisions based on a rebellious mindset and I can’t convince you otherwise if you’ve made up your mind. I can only hope that people who know me, know me well enough to know better. We were acting on different sets of data. I don’t mind evangelical church leaders having their own opinion, or making their own decisions, or even encouraging people in what they thought was right… but to tell the world and the church at large, that those who did not follow them were not following Christ… was wrong. There is grace for that. But, if you want to stay in a leadership role, lead by example and apologize, be humble, allow for conversation, be a part of the change. And don’t stray from the Bible. Isn’t it ironic that in areas where Bible is clear, the church is wavering, and in areas not actually represented in the Bible, they are so confident of their convictions? But I digress. During the last three years mistakes were made by all. I have apologized for my approach, my frustration and some sarcasm more than once over the last three years. Forgiveness is needed and forgiveness is granted. But amnesty? I don’t think so. Let’s grow together, let’s do better, let’s unite through Biblical repentance and forgiveness, and reflect His love and redemption through it all.