Could We Have It Backwards?

As Jesus was being crucified He said to the criminals and the soldiers killing Him: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”  This act produced a result of repentance that is beyond belief. "So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”'

From April 1975 to January 1979 the Cambodian people suffered the greatest percentage of deaths from genocide ever recorded, about 3,300,000 total deaths from executions, starvation and disease took place during this time. If any people should demand repentance and reparations, you would think it would be the Cambodians. The only organization pushing for retribution has been the UN War Crimes Tribunal which has never been supported by the general population. If the $300,000,000 USD spent to convict three people, whom every Cambodian already knew were guilty, had been used to build schools and health clinics, every village in Cambodia could have world class facilities. One of the great qualities demonstrated by the Cambodian Church has been the practice of forgiveness towards the Khmer Rouge. About one-third of our early pastors were former Khmer Rouge and they were readily loved and accepted by their fellow Cambodians. In twenty-two years, FCOP has never heard of any call for repentance from the Khmer Rouge. Cambodian Christians truly believe that this great sin was covered by the blood of Christ. Jesus was very forthright in Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Could that be the 'unforgivable sin'?

Churches all over the world are being told to "Repent of Racism". That is a sin not even mentioned in the Bible. The sin is disobeying the second great commandment of Christ to, "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Repentance is important, but Jesus was clear: "And when He (the Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin..." Thus, Godly repentance comes when a person is convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit. The conclusion? Fleshly demands for repentance don't work. Paul wrote: "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death" (2 Corinthians 7:9-10). So, how do we heal these wounds of racism? Maybe, we need to learn from the Cambodians. Forgive all those who have acted in a racist manner and love our neighbor as ourselves. It is an awesome transforming power we have seen acted out in real time in Cambodia.