Recently, a person referred to as “Anonymous Church Lady” took umbrage with some of the messages presented by “Our Daily Frybread”. (Ray Levesque’s e-mail newsletter that sends out many great articles concerning Native issues. “ACL” thought there was too much negativity among Natives, that we should learn to “Forgive and forget” and let go of the past.
This is something Natives constantly have to contend with when trying to address the problems conflicts that have resulted in the gulf that exists between the “Majority Church” and First Nations peoples.
In considering how to respond to being told to “forgive and forget” about the sins committed against Native peoples in the Americas, I want to share some thoughts from a “majority church” perspective, so to speak. I know some of the “Native ways” of trying to explain why we can’t just “forgive and forget, because it’s all in the past”. I agree with the voice of the heart that speaks about why it’s not that simple for Natives to do this. Frankly, trying to explain this to non-Natives, especially church folks, is a fruitless endeavor about 99% of the time. They simply don’t, can’t or won’t listen with open hearts and minds to such explanations. There are many reasons for this, but I’m not going to go into them. The simplest reason is indeed that Natives and Colonists do indeed think differently. So let me offer the sort of responses that many in the Majority Church would be more likely to listen to.
First, a lot of folks tend to forget that there is a Biblical difference between PERSONAL offense and forgiveness and CORPORATE offense and forgiveness. There is also a difference between a CIVIL offense and a CRIMINAL offense. When Jesus spoke of turning the other cheek, forgiving offenses and not seeking revenge or even redress, He was invariably speaking about personal offense. But the Bible makes it clear that offenses against entire groups, nations or peoples, are handled differently, as are offenses that are criminal in nature. So when dealing with personal matters, we are indeed told to prefer mercy over judgment, when it comes to criminal acts or offenses against entire groups, justice is something we are also told to pursue. This is why the Bible says that governments are set up by God to enforce His laws.
If someone murders one of my children, I can hope that Creator will give me the ability to forgive him. But that doesn’t absolve him from facing the judicial system and being punished “by the people” for a crime that has impacted all of society. About all I could do if he were found guilty would be to testify that I forgive him at the sentencing hearing, but justice would still demand at least a prison sentence, if not his execution.
In the Kingdom of Heaven working on earth, criminal offenses still must be dealt with justly. What most church folks don’t want to admit is that crimes have been committed against entire nations. The First Nations to inhabit the Americas. Ask most Christians if the Jews should have just “forgotten” about the concentration camps and let people like Joseph Mengele go free. Ask just about any Churchgoer if Ted Bundy should have just been allowed out of jail once he came to Jesus and repented of the murders he committed. Ask these people if they think that we should have just “let bygones be bygones” after the terrorist attacks on the WTC and Pentagon. Suddenly it is a different matter all together.
The United States prides itself on being a land of freedom, never showing aggression against a foreign land except in defense of itself or its allies. Yet this is exactly what was done to the First Nations, as treaty after treaty was broken and force of arms was used to coerce sovereign Nations within US soil to surrender land and freedom or face destruction. Throughout much of US history, the “church” was aware of, and even party to, such criminal behavior. Even today, the BIA and other government agencies adequately honor few of the agreements made between tribal leaders and the US Government.
What this means to the issue of “forgive and forget” is that we are talking about national, corporate guilt for crimes, against Nations, rather than personal offense.
This brings up a second point that is often lost on non-Natives. That is the sovereignty of the First Nations. Majority folks tend to think that when we talk about the offenses committed (and continuing to be committed) against Natives, we are talking about social injustice of some sort. But the fact is we are talking about the same sort of illegal actions as Hitler invading Poland or the Soviet Union crushing resistance in Hungary. Throughout history, the US has used political, judicial, economic and military action to defend or free oppressed nations and people groups from aggressors. The invasion of Iraq was as much about freeing its citizens from a dictator, and protecting the entire region from his ambitions, as it was about protecting the US from potential terrorist attack. A great many Majority Church leaders were in favor of military action against Iraq, and before that Afghanistan, citing the need to free oppressed peoples and open the door for the Gospel.
Yet some of these same ministers will say that Natives, having endured the same sort of treatment as those under the Taliban or Sadaam Hussein, should just forgive and forget.
Creator is a God of justice, as well as mercy. The Bible is full of cries for that justice to be enacted. Sections of the Law of Moses deal specifically with how to make reparations for having wronged another person in some way. Never once did Jesus deny that His Father’s provision for justice and reparation was done away with. If anything, His emphasis on displaying personal mercy entails an increased responsibility to ensure justice is enacted on behalf of others. Consider Zaccheus, the tax collector. He came to Jesus and said that he followed the Law’s provision for restitution in all his affairs. In response, Jesus told Zaccheus that salvation had come to his household.
A more “spiritual” way of addressing the issue of sins against Natives is to speak of covenant. There are dire warnings in the Bible about breaking a covenant or oath (Num. 30:2, Eccl. 5:4-5)
Second Samuel 21 gives a pointed lesson in how serious Creator God is about honoring a covenant. The Gibeonites had entered a covenant with Israel to be servants to them if they spared them the fate that those in Jericho and Ai had suffered. Years later, King Saul broke that covenant and tried to exterminate the Gibeonites. After David became king, a famine struck the land and it was revealed that this was because of Saul breaking the covenant with the Gibeonites. David was not in any way responsible for this, yet he took it upon himself to repent of Saul’s actions and ask what restitution the Gibeonites desired. He did not say “just forget about the past”. The words “It wasn’t my doing” never passed his lips. Here’s what he did say: “What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?” (2 Sam.21: 3) He understood that it was his responsibility, as a leader of God’s people and a representative of the Almighty, to see justice done. There are some Majority believers who have the courage to take the same stand for justice that David did. But they seem to be a very small minority.
But Jesus talks about forgiveness and mercy, right? Yes, but what He means by these has much deeper meaning than most people realize.
There is an often-overlooked lesson concerning the woman caught in adultery.
(John 8) People look to this passage as a lesson in forgiveness, and it is. But
if you carefully examine the passage, one thing is certain: there was never a
question that the woman was guilty of her sin, and that under the Law, she
deserved to die. Jesus didn’t address this at all, really. Rather, he
confronted the heart attitude of those who would use her for their own purposes.
But in the end, He didn’t say something like “Let’s just forget about it”
or “Don’t worry, it wasn’t that big a deal”. No, He said, “Go and
sin no more.” With this statement, He looked right at her and acknowledged
that she had in fact sinned!
Folks seem to think that mercy requires a person to act like an offense is not big deal. The problem with this is it cheapens any mercy shown, as well as the grace of God that works to reconcile the two parties involved. Sometimes, we actually OWE IT to the person to say, “Look, what you’ve done is a terrible thing. It has hurt me (us) deeply. Let’s work together to overcome this through the grace of God”. Only then can the person realize that the attitude that led to the offense needs to be dealt with. For our part, Natives may need to approach majority church folks with the idea of emphasizing that we really do want to have a restored, Christ-centered relationship with them, but the sins of the past represent contemporary attitudes that are stumbling blocks to that relationship. BOTH sides are suffering, but only one side seems to see that. The Bible says that when one part of the body suffers, the entire body suffers. The hand really can’t say to the foot “So you’ve been hurt. Just get over it”. The Bible actually rebukes us for doing that sort of thing.
Another point for the “just get over it” folks to consider is this: In Matthew 25, Jesus talks about how when He comes in glory, He will judge the righteous from the unrighteous based on a certain standard. That standard is not how doctrinally correct they were, or how faithfully they tithed, or how often they went to church. It isn’t even how many people they led to Christ. It is how they treated those who were suffering real, physical problems. Jesus said whatever we do, or don’t do, to another, we are doing or not doing to Him. So in essence, when someone tells Natives to just “forgive and forget, and get over it” they are telling Christ the Lord the same thing. That HE should just “get over” the injustices committed against His beloved children. But this very passage says He most certainly won’t “forgive and forget” when those who have committed such sins don’t even acknowledge them.
Jesus said, “Whoever is forgiven much, loves much in return”. In this age of cheap grace, so many church folk have little real love for Jesus because they don’t think they have done that much that really needs forgiving. This applies to relationships with other people as well. Natives are told to forget about the past because the hearts of those saying this are cold, and the real, burning, consuming fire of Christ’s love is merely a flicker or smoldering ember within such hearts. But Jesus said, “A smoking wick I will not quench”. He can fan that ember into full flame. But to do so takes a truly humble, repentant heart. Odd as this may sound, Natives have a responsibility to hold the majority church accountable for their actions, both past and present. Not because of revenge, or even justice, but because only when something is brought into the light can it be dealt with. As long as one set of members of the Body try to avoid dealing with this situation, and thus keeping the ROOT CAUSE of the offense hidden, then they will never be free of that stronghold. And thus the entire Body suffers. Majority Christians need to understand that repentance, reparation and reconciliation are NOT just for the Natives’ sake. It is for their OWN sakes. For we are warned that by whatever measure we use in our actions toward others, God will use the same measure toward us. People who tell those who have suffered offense “just forgive and forget” will find themselves turning to God pleading for mercy, and finding little. Because we are warned in the book of James “Judgment is without mercy for those who show no mercy”. Therefore, anyone who desires true mercy from God, true reconciliation with the Father, should do all they can to achieve the same with those they have offended.