Public Demand for Justice Vs. Private Hope for Forgiveness

We’ve crossed the proverbial Rubicon in the Ray Rice saga.

First, some background for those who may not have been following this story:

Months ago, Rice was accused and received a pre-trial plea agreement on a charge of aggravated assault stemming from an incident in an Atlantic City elevator. The website TMZ was able to obtain footage of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice dragging his unconscious then-fiancee/now-wife Janay (Palmer) Rice out of the elevator.

Rice was suspended for two games by the NFL.

The other shoe dropped Monday morning when TMZ released more footage, this of the actions inside the elevator. The video was horrific, violent and gut-wrenching. It is a reminder of the depravity men can stoop to and the seriousness of the often under-reported and under-prosecuted crime of domestic violence.

However, the line we’ve crossed has gone from the demand for justice toward something more.

This morning, Janay Rice released a statement on Instagram (which she later deleted), chastising the media for releasing and circulating video of her domestic abuse at the hands of her now-husband, .

The statement stirred about a lot of different emotions in a lot of people—confusion, sorrow, empathy, pity, anger, et al. Reactions ran the gamut from things like: “IT’S HIS fault!” “How can you blame the media!?” “How blind can you be?!” to the tamer: “this is what victims think like” or “this is proof he’ll do it again.”

This doesn’t have to be an either/or sort of argument, though. We can hold up and defend the idea that TMZ’s release of the Rice video furthered justice yesterday as it created the public outcry that led to Rice’s 2-game suspension being elevated to an indefinite ban and release from his team. However, we can also sympathize with Janay who clearly felt victimized once more by her abuse being exploited for page views and talk radio chatter.

Consider this: As journalists overseas have been beheaded by the group ISIS, media organizations have weighed the value of showing the video—newsworthiness and proof of the horror of terrorism—against a level of respect for the victims and their families.

The Rice video also has value for the general public. We knew exactly what happened in that elevator, but knowing is different from seeing. Seeing the video forced an outcry. Seeing the video led to a demand for justice. We may be desensitized to violence as a culture, but few stomachs could keep from turning at actions like this. (Pray that ours will never be among them!)

Yet, how many weighed the value of the video against respect for Janay Rice? Was she asked whether or not she wanted this seen? Was there no way for TMZ to demand justice for Janay Rice without hyping the video for their own business purposes? The choices made to show the video had positive effects, to be sure, but were they the best choices? Were they done with respect and reverence?

Do living victims deserve less respect than the dead?

For me, the statement and the reaction to the statement reinforced an idea that crept into my mind yesterday: Where is the line between the public’s demand for justice and a private individual’s chance for forgiveness.

This is not how the world thinks.

Domestic violence is a hideous crime. There is no excuse for it and no justification for what Ray Rice did in that elevator. There is no legitimate reason to put your hands violently on any other person—let alone a loved one, let alone a woman when you happen to be one of the biggest, fastest and strongest people on the planet.

“Of course, Rice is worse than I am,” the cry goes up. “I would never do such a thing!”

From a worldly perspective, there is value to that statement. Justice—worldly, civil—would not demand that a jaywalker or loiterer be punished as severely for their crimes as a murderer or domestic abuser. Our natural knowledge of the law cries out that actions have consequences and certain choices will lead to more severe consequences.

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Yet, there is also another viewpoint…a Gospel-driven viewpoint.

As a Christian, I believe that I am no better than anyone else. If St. Paul can call himself “the worst” of sinners, and I take a look at my own life and my personal failings, I lose the right to righteous indignation. God does not rank sins, nor does he limit his forgiveness for them. If my many faults are laid at the feet of Jesus’ cross and washed clean by his blood, how can I say another person’s aren’t?

Justice, recompense, consequences, discipline…these do not belong in the same side of the conversation as forgiveness. Whatever pound of flesh you think be demanded from Ray Rice or any other public and serious offender has nothing to do with how much that person deserves forgiveness from God or the people that person has sinned against.

These are the kinds of “two kingdom” (Earth and Heaven) issues that continually vex us as believers.

Those of us who are citizens of the United States of America can proudly celebrate each July 4th with aplomb, even as we teach that our founding fathers’ actions may not have been entirely in line with God’s command for obeying one’s rulers—tyrants though they may be.

We can find solace in the capture or even death of those that might persecute us—ISIS, Al Queda, Osama Bin Laden, etc—while still preaching that they, too, are part of the “all people” that God desires to be saved. We can both be happy that justice was done, yet sorrowful that their time of grace was cut short and faith had no more chance to work in their heart.

This is the same strange juxtaposition so often told in about serial-killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who terrorized the Milwaukee, WI area before being captured and put into prison. There, Dahmer met and befriended preacher Roy Ratcliff and was baptized, dying a repentant Christian.

Personally, as both a Christian and member of the sports media, I deal with this over and over again as I straddle the line between the two kingdoms and have to deal both personally and professionally with the often very public sins of those athletes I cover.

This does not align with our civic idea of human righteousness, but aligns perfectly with a savior who told the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard and who told a thief next to him on the cross: “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”

There’s an important distinction here that must be addressed. Domestic abuse is not only a physical thing. Those who are abused suffer emotionally and mentally as well. Therefore, it is appropriate to continue to pray for Janay Rice, that her unseen wounds continue to heal and that this never happen to her ever, ever again…at the hands of her husband or anyone else.

Anything further than that, though—blaming her for past or potential abuse, drawing parallels from her situation to similar (or personal) situations without actually having any idea of what’s actually going on, treating her as a spectacle, etc—that is too far. It paints her unfairly as any number of things that may or may not be true.

It’s just as inappropriate to say or act as if Ray Rice should not get either his wife or God’s forgiveness. In respect to our earthly life, we can hold opinions that he does not deserve to play football again, or walk around without jail time, or even that we could not fathom staying married to someone who did that to us.

Is it really appropriate to wish Ray Rice never be happy, ever again?

Like the media that shared and re-shared the video, we must ask ourselves what the greatest option would be. Worldly “justice” aside, what is the best thing for all involved? Certainly, that would include Ray Rice being truly contrite, repentant and never, ever…ever doing such things again. That’s a given.

Doesn’t it also include Ray and Janay Rice being happy and their marriage growing strong—even in the aftermath of such a hideous and public crime on Ray’s part?  It includes both Janay’s personal safety and the respect of her privacy. It includes Ray cherishing as God commands husbands to love and cherish their wives, and it also includes him finding gainful employment, doing something, and supporting himself and his family.

Doesn’t the best possible scenario for everyone involved—here and everywhere—include Christ’s forgiveness which covers over sins both viewed as small and great alike?

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.—Romans 3:23-24

The world cannot understand this. By grace, we do.