Quandaries of Living in a Post-Genesis 3 World

So right now, I'm watching a show right now called "To Catch a Predator" on MSNBC. The premise of the show basically, is that a dude sets up an acount online posing as a 14 year old girl and the point of the show is to bring sexual predators into a setup meeting, whereupon they are counseled by a reporter who lets them go into the waiting full-form tackle of our boys in blue (although none, i'm sure, as good as our own, Jarrett Tonn, would execute such a vicious hit).

Anyways, I was thinking about how we, as Americans handle the whole problem of the "sexual predator". As the Reckless Raging community would well know, my church (www.tapestryofhope.com), have several convicted sex offenders who have paid their time and find themselves out of prison and trying to make what they can out of the rest of thier lives. Now, this experience has definitely colored my experience in the matter and I am definitely persuaded that Jesus would have me, and all of us, forgive and love these people who are created in the image of the Most High. I do not mean this to be light and meaningless. We need to love them, whether they are enemies or not...its something like what Jesus said.

Does not the God of the bible have something to say on the matter of justice and defending the oppressed? Of course it does. We ought to outright hate the fact that little boys and girls are being targeted for sex. Our stomachs ought to turn at the mere thought of our little ones being abused. We should hate the fact that countless people are enslaved in the sex trade every day of the year. We ought to be ashamed that the number one destination in the world for sex slaves is the United States of America (www.makewaypartners.org). In theological terms, we should hate the sin.

But grace is not cheap. We should absolutely love the sinner. This is what we are called above all to do. The second great commandment, according to Jesus, is to love our neighbors as ourselves. Statistically speaking, our neighbors would include sexual predators.

So now my question is, what should our response be when we think through how to respond to such a situation? How do we love both the oppressor and the victim in this instance? How are we to love (in obedience to the commands of Jesus) a man or woman preying on our young ones? Suprisingly enough, I really don't know how to answer this question. What I do know is that I think that radically loving while not excusing guilt might be the most radical thing that we can do as 21st Century believers in America.

What if we had communities that first of all addressed the problems that lead to full addiction and predator behavior? What if we "nipped it in the bud"? What if we started with our own lives. What if preachers of the gospel began calling down pornography? What would happen if preachers of the gospel began telling the truth, namely, that intimate love that Jesus Christ offers is so much more satisfying than any kind of sex, cyber, legal or illegal?

Furthermore, what if preachers of the gospel began to love, I mean truly care about, those whose lives have hit such a desperate place that it takes cybersex with a minor and/or real sex with a minor to satisfy their souls, if even for a second. How incredibly radical would the Church of Jesus Christ be at that point?

Instead of trying to "Capture the Predator", lets try to "Love the Predator"- in a radical gospel sense. Instead of hating the sinner and thereby disregarding the sin, lets radically hate the sin and so truly love the sinner, who is made in the image of our Father. That's the radical truth of the gospel, namely, that the more severe we understand sin to be, the more pervasive it is and the more serious we take it, that is also the degree of seriousness that we ought to love them with- because it shows their desperate state in alienation from Jesus.

Trying to love like Jesus,
Casey