Forgive as We Have Been Forgiven

I was totally irritated this week when, after Chris Brown performed at the BET Awards, in a tribute to Michael Jackson, he broke down and people wondered if it was all a show.
Not only that, but an unforgiving spirit hung over all the television commentaries and blogs. Because Chris Brown treated Rihanna so poorly, it seems that many to perhaps most refuse to forgive him and doubt that his “remorse” is sincere.
I found the entire situation troubling one, because too many people automatically thought that Brown was merely being dramatic, and two, I would bet that many of those people turning their noses up at him are probably people who call themselves Christian, meaning, they are under divine command to forgive.
Brown was singing “Man in the Mirror” when he broke down, in tears. I thought, as I watched him, that many of us have looked into a mirror and finally seen who we really are, and have not been happy. Many of us have realized, seeing ourselves honestly for perhaps the first time, that we have messed up and messed up bad. Such a realization could bring anyone to tears.
If Brown had one of those kinds of moments, coupled with a profound sense of sadness that the King of Pop is really gone, yes, it might move him to tears.
I hate what happened between Brown and Rihanna. There is never a reason to hit a woman. That’s what I was taught. That’s what I thought, even, when I saw video of a cop hitting a belligerent girl in the face with his fist. My father said a real man never hits a woman, even when she pushes him. His advice, added to my own beliefs, makes me hate what happened to Rihanna at Brown’s hands, and in fact, makes me hate it whenever I hear of or see domestic violence.
But it happened, Rihanna (rightfully so) stopped seeing Brown, Brown went to court and did his community service. I hope he is in anger management classes …but even if he isn’t, the episode with Rihanna is over. If he is sorry, we who call ourselves Christian ought to receive his repentance and perhaps his disdain with himself with grace.
God receives us when we’re like that, and God does it with grace and love.
There are some things that all of us have done for which we will be deeply sorry for and maybe even embarrassed about until we breathe our last breath. The difference between us and Chris Brown is that our agony and embarrassment is private while his is virulently public.
But we certainly count on being forgiven by God, and if we’re with the right people, we hope for their forgiveness as well. It is part of the ethos of belonging to the Christ to not only accept forgiveness from God, but to give forgiveness to those we’ve wronged and receive remorse from those who offer it.
I hope Chris Brown drowns out the cynical opinions offered on his breakdown Sunday. I hope he gives his tears and his heart to God and gets the strength from God to go on and to get stronger. I hope that whatever is in him that drove him to hit Rihanna is slowly dissipating from his spirit.
And I hope that we who call ourselves Christian will let go of some of our cynicism and catch hold of more of God’s grace, so that we can give to others what has been freely given to us.
Have a good week.