It's Not About Forgiveness Christianity Today, It's About Trust!

The Bible's teaching on forgiveness is clear, we are to forgive one another (Eph. 4:32, Mt. 6:14, etc.).  However, the irony and perhaps the arrogance of CT or Paul D. Miller on behalf of the evangelical elites to suggest it's time for "forgiveness" is rich, to say the least.  I haven't said much about Covid and the response to it in a long time.  In part, because it was so divisive and in part because I am working through my own bitterness regarding the evangelical elites who preached down to the rest of the Christians, the "rank and file" if you will, demanding that it was unloving to not wear a mask, to not get vaccinated (over and over), to not shut down, to not jump in line and follow their tyrannical demands.  I can't count the times I was told that the church should lead the way be getting vaccines that were untested and experimental and to choose not to was to be unloving, unChristlike, etc.  Criticizing the demands for business to shut down, to warn of the psychological problems we would face, to suggest that there would be unintended consequences to the actions being taken, to warn about the loss of education our kids would experience, to warn of livelihoods that would be lost, and so on was, according the evangelical elites, a bad Christian witness.

Well, it now turns out the elites were wrong...about almost everything.  Masks didn't work, the vaccines didn't work (at least not as a vaccine, maybe a therapeutic), the lock downs didn't work, 2 weeks to stop the spread didn't work, 6 feet was made up, keeping kids home from school was unnecessary, and more.  In fact, it is hard to think of one thing they got right.  You were a nutcase if you thought it came from a lab in China (it looks like it actually did).  You were a "science denier" if you questioned any of it or stood up for people's choice to make their own medical decisions.  

Now, the magazine of the evangelical elites, CT, publishes and article demanding forgiveness.  Okay, forgiven...I mean it.  You are forgiven evangelical elites, at least I forgive you.  However, if you think for a moment that I trust you, you are delusional.  Maybe some trust could be earned back and I have a suggestion as to how you might do that.

Step #1
If you have a platform, (Ed Stetzer, Russell Moore, Beth Moore, Rick Warren, et. al.) and you said anything remotely close to, "loving your neighbor means getting the vaccine and wearing a mask."  If you said anything like, "pastors, you need to shut your church down."  If you said anything like, "you are a conspiracy theorist if you think the vaccine came from a Chinese lab."  If you maligned those who stood for medical freedom in regards to vaccines, questioned lockdowns, etc.  You can start by publicly admitting you were wrong.  Make it really public!  Maybe you just listened to the wrong people (Ed Stetzer), that's fine.  Whatever the reason, you were wrong and you made demands of pastors, their churches, and Christians in general that were completely out of line with reality.  You contributed to the panic rather than calming it.  Just say it, that would be a great start.

Step #2
Ask for forgiveness.  To be honest, you have mine, but the ask would still be nice.  You don't have to do any more than that.  

Step #3
Be careful about how you judge people moving forward.  Making claims that someone or an entire group of people is not loving their neighbor by not doing something like getting a shot, wearing a mask, etc. is not only judgmental, it is arrogant.  When the Bible doesn't speak directly to something like a vaccine or wearing a mask, maybe treading a little more lightly would be appropriate.  Speak with generalities, but make room for exceptions in cases like this.  

Step #4
Stop believing your own press.  You might be smart, maybe even brilliant, but that doesn't make you wise.  Wisdom, in part, is knowing your limits.  We all wonder outside of our own limits from time to time, but sometimes, but you can do better.  

Forgiveness, sure.  Amnesty?  No way!  I'm not giving the evangelical elites a pass on this.  I didn't trust them much before Covid, I certainly don't trust them now.  I will not be listening until they work to regain trust and in the process show some humility.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure we should have a category like "evangelical elites" but it is probably inevitable.