Case Closed?

My friend Rich passed on this fascinating article about a man who murdered a woman in cold blood in 1975, was converted in prison, served eight years of a sentence and now pastors an Assemblies of God megachurch in the Nashville area. Biblical accounts of redeemed murderers like Paul and David notwithstanding, here are a few of my questions about this story:

Just because Jesus says "case closed", does this mean an offender no longer owes a debt before God to society or to his/her victims? A man may be forgiven by God for abandoning his wife and children and marrying his girlfriend, but he still must pay child support and alimony. A woman may be forgiven by God for driving the getaway car in a bank robbery that claims the life of a teller, but she will spend time in prison for colluding in the crime.

On the flip side, just because a court says "case closed," does that mean the biblical demands of justice have been met? We must consider the possibility that God's demands of justice may not be equivalent to that of our legal system, which often metes out justice based on money, class and race, with little regard for God. A court may have a statute of limitations on when a victim of rape may no longer accuse her attacker, but a rapist is still accountable to God for his actions. A court may call someone "married", but this doesn't necessarily make them wed in God's sight, and a secular court's writ of divorce does not mean the covenant a couple made before God is no longer in effect. While we're on the topic, just because a court says a fetus is not a human being does not mean this is true.

I don't think there's any easy answer to these questions, except to say that the church often uncritically accepts our secular society's views of justice and accountability without considering that God's standards may be even higher. It is also true that biblical reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration are sometimes viewed as scandalously liberal from the viewpoint of modern society. Although biblical grace is radical in its demands both for the sinner and the victim, someone recently described the current Christian conception of grace as closer to someone robbing a bank, saying they're sorry and getting to keep the money.

One ironic note on the Nashville story: Within his denomination's restrictions (until they were changed several years ago), this pastor would have been unconditionally disqualified for ministry if he had divorced his wife and married another woman—instead of murdering someone—before becoming a believer.