Forgiven Forgivers
I just got back from 9 days in Southeast Asia with an incredible group of pastors and businessmen. We spent time visiting with global workers from the region, deepening our understanding of missiology with AGWM Executive Director John Easter, and just benefiting from countless conversations and shared experiences with friends on the same Kingdom trajectory.
These moments are so beautifully formative, even for seasoned leaders.
But for me, a key moment of the trip was an off-the-cuff comment during a Q&A session with one of the missionaries, and it really didn’t have to do with missions work at all.
Slow to Forgive
He was asked about things he sees in the broader culture today and how they are ultimately impacting global missions. His answer was stark:
“We are quick to move to extreme opinions and slow to forgive. We hold on. We’re burdened by holding onto hurts. That really undermines calling.”
I’ve been chewing on that comment ever since. He went on to clarify—hurts are certainly real. Sometimes people fail us. Sometimes those people are our leaders. (Sometimes those people are us!).
This wasn’t an attempt to justify bad behavior. But the ability to navigate hurts and injustices with grace and forgiveness is something we’re seeing less and less of today. And its impacting Kingdom calling. Because it’s hard to live fully into what God is calling us toward when we remain tethered to what someone else did to us.
Mercy for Mondays
My colleague, Bill Tibbetts, recently wrote a great article about carrying mercy into Monday. His words feel especially relevant in light of that missionary’s observation:
“We live in a culture that thrives on outrage. Social media rewards venting. Offices reward gossip. But followers of Jesus are invited to another way.”
The Lord’s prayer pronounces: “forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those who have sinned against us” (Matthew 6:12 MSG). Forgive us as we forgive. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be forgiven forgivers.
Here’s the truth: I’ve been the wound-ed and the wound-er. And in both roles, I’m desperately in need of the grace and mercy of Jesus. So what would happen if we flipped my missionary friend’s quote upside down?
What if we were slow to develop extreme opinions and quick to forgive?
Maybe forgiveness doesn’t just free us from what’s behind us. It frees us for what God has ahead.
Erik Cooper
Erik began his career in the business world before spending twelve years in full-time ministry, serving on staff at a large suburban church and later as a church planter in downtown Indianapolis. Today, he serves as the President of a family of business-oriented nonprofit organizations that work together to mobilize the marketplace to make Jesus known in the world. He leads The Stone Table, which equips marketplace believers and invests in global mission initiatives, and Community Reinvestment Foundation, a nonprofit real estate company providing high-quality affordable housing in Indiana and directing its profits to missions through The Stone Table.
