God's Relentless Mercy

A news story broke this week in Seattle, Washington that was rather disturbing. Two individuals decided to conduct an online "experiment" in which they placed a phony sexual solicitation ad in a classified ads column through craigslist.com. Their experiment? To see how many men would respond within 24 hours...and then to post their responses, email addresses, and photos on a separate website to "rat out" their behavior.

What disturbed me most about this experiment wasn't the fact that there were probably legal privacy issues violated, but rather that in less than twenty-four hours 178 men responded to the ad. And not only did they respond, their inquiries were vulgar, graphic, and often included overtones of violence to be inflicted on this woman in the ad. Also disturbing was the fact that this was only one ad out of literally millions of similar such ads placed all throughout the Internet. A short time with a calculator and the potential number of responses on a daily basis to such sexual solicitations is mind boggling. And yet, strangely enough, I see the mercy of God being tenderly expressed to these 178 men who responded to this one ad.

You may think this is an odd conclusion to come to after learning of such a news story. But it's not that far of a stretch if you understand the mercy of God. The Bible tells us that God is patient, not easily angered, and longsuffering in His disposition toward us. He is not harsh and angry, as many have come to see Him. The truth is that God desires to see each of us enjoy the intimate fellowship with Him that will not only save us from the fires of hell someday, but will also provide the abundant life our hearts long for now. Thus, God pursues us with relentless mercy.

Mercy is not a characteristic that gains much popularity in the world today. As Americans, we like to think we are merciful, but the truth is that we often think and behave in ways that convey anything but mercy. We might say we desire mercy for the 15-year-old kid who got mixed up in the wrong crowd and committed a violent house robbery - as long as that house wasn't ours! By definition, mercy is withholding a just punishment from the offender. In other words, it is not giving someone the penalty they deserve. As James reminds us, "Mercy triumphs over judgment!" (James 2:13b)

So how do I see God's mercy being poured out on the lives of these 178 men? By allowing the humiliation and brokenness of such exposure to give these men opportunity to humble themselves, repent, and avoid worse consequences should they dive deeper into their sexual perversions, God is expressing mercy toward them. This is often how the mercy of God comes to us in our lives: through humiliating exposure of our waywardness that reminds us of the truth. God is not out to get these men in the sense of embarrassing them for the sake of embarrassment (which appears to be the only motivation for the two who posted the ad). God uses such events to draw broken people back to himself for comfort, healing, and the promise of a new future. Remember, mercy triumphs over judgment.

As shocking and heartbreaking as this story was, it reminded me of the great benefit of walking as far away from the cliff of sexual sin as possible, rather than trying to nudge right up next to it. I'm sure a good number of the men who responded to this ad are Christian men straddling the fence between purity and lust. For those who attempt to live a life sexual purity while holding hands with the enemy, the fall is painful...and humiliating. But even if you choose to walk such a perilous path, the relentless mercy of God will be there to call you back...

Thankful for mercy,

jonathan