Vengeance is Mine!?

 

Vengeance is mine!

I have a right to revenge!

Well, not if you're following Christ. Throughout Scripture, the admonition is to be one that trust God to deliver vengeance. However, this is hard. We do feel that we have the right. The question I have been asking is “Why?.”

Why do we think that we have to get even? Why do we think we need to “Make it right!”

One reason is that we feel we need to be God or at least a god. This goes back to the original sin in the Garden of Eden. We want the right to judge good from evil, right from wrong, for ourselves (and though we often don’t want to admit this part but for everyone else as well). Christians, however, are supposed to have made God, well, God in our lives.  The logical conclusion is that this may be true for some but it isn’t the reason for everyone.

The second reason is a matter of trust. In Mark 9, the man with the son with a demon was asked, “Do you believe?” The man wisely responded, “Lord I believe, Help my unbelief.” Christians and others believe God will give final judgment, but we doubt it will be enough or soon enough. If we believed that someone would soon die if they hurt us or someone we loved if we did nothing, would we feel the need to attack them? Probably not. Especially once one or two dropped dead not long after doing it. However, we don’t often see God’s judgment fall in this world, and more often than we would like people don’t even face prosecution in this world. Therefore, I can’t help but think, we believe they are actually getting away with it.

As I see it, for most people the idea of revenge is rooted in the idea that the person who has wronged you is going to get away with it. We don’t really believe they will face justice. Perhaps then when we are faced with the desire for revenge we need to go to God and say, “God I believe that you are the righteous judge, I believe that people will face the consequences of their actions. However, God… help my unbelief.”

 

Side note: I am not saying that we shouldn’t seek justice or let people get away with wrong. We should stand up against injustice and prosecute wrongdoers. However, our attitude needs to trust that God will ultimately make things right.