Opus 2011-237, Spiritual Gifts: Mercy

(Romans 12:8 KJV)  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Mercy.  I understand the concept.  I am willing to extend it at times.  I have let spiders live, as long as I am outside on their turf.  I don’t kick dogs.  But I must confess I do not understand people with the gift of mercy.  They confuse me.  That may be their purpose.

I can them mercy people.  They always see the good side of people and things.  If someone cuts them off on the freeway, they assume they are rushing to the hospital with their pregnant wife in the back seat, the baby half way out.  If they get short changed, they assume the person just made a mistake.  You know the kind of person I speak of.  They voted for hope and change.  I once was talking to a teacher about the moral problems of Bill Clinton.  She admitted that she know about that.  Yet she voted for him twice.  When I showed my confusion she said, “I thought he would change.”  That is the gift of mercy.  Perhaps you are one of them.  If you are, I do not understand you.

People with the gift of mercy have one important role in life.  They need to balance out those of us who think that discernment demands we punish evil.  All the time.  Every person.  We have a tendency to get carried away.  Mercy people are what keep the church from becoming what all the pagans claim we are.  It is a part of the balancing act God gave us called the body of Christ.

So I don’t understand.  Fine, but I accept.  Someday the mystery will be clear to me, but don’t count on it happening in this life.

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