Day: August 11, 2011

5 Myths About Forgiveness

/ Dennis Griffith / 3 Comments

In the movie Just Friends pop singer Samantha James (Anna Faris) lyrically muses:

“Forgiveness is more than saying ‘Sorry'” 

Earlier this week I had a conversation with a friend who had been accused by a woman from his church of being “unforgiving” because he was hesitant to re-hire a man who had been fired for cause just a couple years previous.  My friend, who is a very gentle and gracious man, was mostly venting frustration from the sting of this accusation. But he was also honestly trying to resolve the conflict within himself; trying to discern if his hesitancy was truly a reflection of a heart lacking in forgiveness. 

I suspect many self-searching people wrestle with question at one time or another.

The character Samantha James may be on to someting. But what? What is forgiveness? Maybe at least as important, what is forgivenss NOT?

Sam Storms helps us out with that latter question by listing 5 Myths about forgiveness:

  1. Contrary to what many have been led to believe, forgiveness is not forgetting.
  2. Forgiving someone does not mean you no longer feel the pain of their offense.
  3. Forgiving someone who has sinned against you doesn’t mean you cease longing for justice.
  4. Forgiveness does not mean you are to make it easy for the offender to hurt you again.
  5. Forgiveness is rarely a one-time, climactic event. It is most often a life-long process.

This list is an excerpt from a post that originally appeared on the Enjoying God Ministries blog.  To whole article is available in .pdf thanks to the folks at Acts 29 Network. Click: Forgiveness 

In a later post we will consider what Storms says forgiveness is.

The Help

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

Went yesterday with my wife and daughter to see the movie The Help.  While in one sense this film might fall into the category of Chick Flick, it is more than that.  For us it was somewhat nostalgic.  The area of Jackson, Mississippi where this was filmed and set is the same neighborhood where we lived in for three years while I was in seminary – Belhaven.  (Though the story is set 30 years before we got there.)

This film is poignant – both  funny and sad.   Laced with humor throughout, it is a discomforting reminder about oppressive attitudes that prevailed only a generation ago.  Though the tide had turned by the time we had arrived in Jackson, it was not unusual to stumble upon lingering remnants of the past prevailing prejudices.   I suspect they still linger, and not only in Mississippi.  So in that sense this movie is a good reminder of the ugliness and foolishness of bigotry.  Such reminders insulate against a resurgence of bigoted attitudes.

More than just a moral reminder from days of old, this story is a wonderful demonstration of the power of even just a few to bring about social justice and renewal.  In this way, though God is not central to the plot, it is a reflection of the gospel promise to make all things new.

In short, the movie was well worth the extended lunch that took up a portion of my afternoon.  So guys, no need to be turned away because this movie may initially appear to be gender in-apropros.