I have been thinking lately about the limits of our Faith. That is to say, is there a line past which our Faith no longer applies? At some point can we just abandon our Faith, and more effectively employ our logic? The question was raised to me in terms of child molesters and their relationship to God. How hard it must be to love a child molester....that must be the bane of humanity, right? Could God love someone as horrible as that? Should I love them and are they worth ministering to?

In this scenario, a grown man (probably) has committed a truly horrible act upon a defenseless young child. That child will certainly suffer many emotional and psychological consequences of an action that someone else forced upon them. Without a doubt, this is an unjust act that should be punished and prevented from happening again. But has God turned His back on the perpetrator? And has the child been harmed beyond the point where God can heal him/her from this experience?

My contention is this: while the child molester may have committed a particularly heinous act, who among us is worthy of God's grace and the Salvation He offers? I think that it is tempting to impose a man-made ranking system whereby we can establish what people are "better" than others. But I don't find any justification for such a system in the Word. Sin is sin is sin. The cure remains the same. The punishment (by God) remains the same. You could even argue that, by punctuating the "badness" of others' sins, we are merely downplaying the depth of our own sins--how palpable they are, how hurtful they are to God, and how they separate us from Him. It may be very difficult for a pedophile to change his ways and come to God. But it is not impossible--I think it's insulting to God to say that He cannot do something.

With regards to the child, undoubtedly they have been put in a bad spot that they never asked for. Protecting children is a near-universal value of humans. But again, I must cite the power of God in contending the point that no one is incapable of being healed. Certainly that can be a difficult process, but I thank God for the extent of His power--where He is willing to provide for us in any way that we are humble enough to ask Him to. And it's been my pleasure to meet several adults who were abused in various manners in childhood, and to see that God has been able to heal their hearts and make them whole, good people. This is definitely a hard situation. But God exists and is powerful in every situation, whether we can see it or not.

In general, I believe that bad things happen in the world, have always happened, and will always happen in the future. Great injustices have been the norm among all human societies. In a philosophical sense, the New Testament is clear about the sin nature of man, how he cannot help but sin without Christ in his heart. More explicitly, the Old Testament is full of injustices and downright creepy acts. An in-depth study of figures in the Old Testament is a study in derelicts and deviants. But I think that we can all agree that Abraham, Moses, and David were ultimately men of God. I cannot help but believe that we should not give up on people--because I am supremely grateful that God did not give up on me. I think that it's somewhat simple-minded to believe that God cannot reform a wicked soul...if you need more evidence, look in the mirror.