We’re all lawbreakers. So how should a bunch of lawbreakers treat each other? We know we’re supposed to delineate between right and wrong. But we can never forget just how level the playing field is. James warns us: “Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:13) This is a hard word for hardliners.
Real mercy—the kind Jesus says we’re supposed to “learn”—is helping each other UP. Are you helping up or pushing down?
I was running late on my way to a funeral. I was tooling down the Interstate totally stressed, totally late. A State Trooper took interest in my vehicle and stepped out into the lane and flagged me over. I was busted, stressed, and totally flipping out. He said, “You were doing 85 in a 55. Where are you going?” Black suit and all, I replied, “Officer, I’m sorry. I’m a pastor on my way to do a funeral, and I’m late.” I saw that he could see the Bible on the passenger’s seat. So he said, “Given the circumstances, I’m going to show mercy; next time, leave your house earlier.” I was so grateful. I did the speed limit all the way to the funeral home. The mercy the cop showed me made me want to obey the law. That’s the lesson. When the woman caught in adultery was shown mercy, Jesus could say “Go and sin no more” knowing that her heart of gratitude would learn from mercy more than it would ever learn from trap-setting legalism. The best way we can hold each other accountable is to show mercy.
Now, contrast the merciful State Trooper with an unmerciful red light camera. About a year ago, I was tooling along failing to memorize which intersections had those nice little legalistic cameras installed. As I went through what I saw to be an “orange” light, I noticed a flash go off on that warm dusk evening.
I can’t justify speeding or running lights. It’s the law. But in the one instance, a human heart saw a difficult circumstance and made a call using the rule of mercy. The inhuman red light camera, however, ruled purely on the basis of law. I’m not here to say which is better for our law-breaking society, but I think I can say which is better for the church. The heart of mercy trumps legalism. Which should we more reflect? The State Trooper, or the Red Light Camera?
I’ve been around red-light-camera-Christians long enough to know that their hard-line religious legalism never leads people UP. Now granted, the red light camera system does work. But it’s superficial. I bet fewer people run lights in my town of Columbia—at least at the intersections with the cameras. And those that do run them may even pose for the camera by flipping the bird. Mercy is better than law because it makes reasonable people want to obey; but merciless religion leads to loopholes and superficial behavioral modification. Choose mercy.