LATEST WRITINGS FROM PASTOR PHILIP HOPPE

Posted inCreative Writing / Theology and Practice

Facebook and Forgiveness

It has always been a pet peeve of mine.  This morning I typed in jest:

ff

Soon after I wondered.  Is presumptive the right word?  Should it be presumptuous instead?  One of my friends suggested that indeed I had chosen the wrong word.  I assumed her rebuke was correct and went searching in vain for the Facebook “Edit” button.  It still did not exist like editthe other hundreds of times I looked for it to correct my carelessness or bad typing.  This always has bothered me.  Why can’t I go back and correct my mistake easily?

Then it occurred to me.  While I will still campaign for an edit button on Facebook, there is no edit button in life.  We do things and then they can not be easily edited.  They remain.  Our sins just abide there in accusation. 

On Facebook, the only way to get rid of a mistake is for the mistaken comment to be completely deleted.  So too in life.  Sins cannot be fixed easily.  They cannot be edited into righteousness.  Only if the sin is deleted can its guilt be removed.  Only if is is deleted in Christ’s forgiveness can it be truly gone. 

So as long as the frustration of the lack of the feature on Facebook remains, I will rejoice in the picture it gives of of how Jesus’ forgiveness alone can delete my sins.  There is no edit button in life.

dictionaryOh and for you word nerds:

presumptuous adj
1. characterized by presumption or tending to presume; bold; forward
2. an obsolete word for presumptive
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *