A Sin To Be Silent...

This is a difficult post to write for a number of reasons, yet, as the title suggests, it would be wrong for me not to. Several weeks ago, I read a series of news articles about a New Jersey family, Army Major and Mrs. Jackson, a Christian family with three biological and two adopted children. For years, they have fostered medically at risk children, a herculean and noble effort that led to them adopting at least two.

However, in April 2010, (nearly two years ago) they ran afoul of New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), when they took the youngest, an adopted, medically challenged infant, to the hospital for a fever. The hospital staff initially thought aspects of the baby’s condition were suspicious and contacted DYFS, who immediately removed all five children from the home. Ultimately, in a fairly short time, the medical concerns were determined to come from her existing conditions and likely pre-adoption injuries.

Humanity

I think I’ve commented on this verse before, but it is so fundamental that its applications seem never ending. Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown thee, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

What this tells us is the God looks at our character, our heart, not our intelligence, socioeconomic status, or anything else. For us as academics, at the top of our field, where we receive accolades because of our abilities, this can be difficult to accept.

Caring Too Much

This evening, Friday night of Thanksgiving weekend, I received a text message from one of my Teaching Assistants. “Hi, Dr. Wilson. Can you call me when u get a chance? We are having issues in [class]”

I was in the middle of something, away from my computer, and wanted to check email before calling him, to see if there was more information there, as I like to have all of the information possible before discussing it with those involved.

It wasn’t meant to be. About five minutes later, the phone rang. I jokingly reproved him, “I thought you wanted me to call you when I had the chance?”

What is Fair?

This spring term I had two nearly identical academic integrity cases. Two sets of partners turned in nearly identical lab reports, with attempts to hide it by changing fonts and other cosmetics. My default penalty for such situations is a zero for both parties. However, in each case, it turned out that one student had let their partner have access to their report with good intentions, and the partner stole the work, claiming it as their own.

Jury of Our Peers

I have to appear at the courthouse Monday morning at 8:30 for jury duty. It’s the first time I haven’t had a legitimate excuse for not serving. So, I am somewhat interested in going through the process. I have long heard people complain when they are summoned, and have wondered why. Some of the reasons make some sense—it is an interruption of daily life for an unknown period of time, potentially unpaid time off of work with a pittance for compensation, etc. As I talked to some folks who have served, other reasons come up—a fear of reprisal by the defendant if it is a particularly nasty case and the weight of responsibility of deciding another human being's fate.

The first set is normal frustration with interruption in our lives, and not really worth a lot of comment—if the interruption isn’t jury duty, it might be a busted pipe, broken car, illness, etc.

The second set is more weighty. There are some truly evil folks in this world, and most to some degree resent being caught and may seek retribution on the jury. Fortunately, this seems to be a rare occurrence, happening more on TV and in the movies than in real life.

But what of the last reason—we are charged with the responsibility of deciding whether a human being is guilty. Sometimes, it seems, it can be based less on facts than the quality of the courtroom performance by the attorneys, which adds another whole dimension to it. We are given the authority to decide someone’s guilt or innocence, and if guilty, how to punish them. The defendant isn’t the only life we impact. There is the impact on the victim(s) of the crime. If we decide wrong, how will their lives be affected?

As a faculty member, I am somewhat used to judging the performance of others, my students, and some of those decisions do have lasting impact in their lives—if this student fails my class and doesn’t get into med school, whose lives may be affected for better or worse by that person not becoming a doctor? We can’t let ourselves get wrapped up in that or we’ll lose our effectiveness.

Yet the issue remains—we are called as citizens to judge but Christ says not to judge because the standards by which we judge others are the ones used for us. Even David, when he sinned in conducting the census, pleaded for God to judge him and not man, because of God’s mercy and true knowledge of justice.  It IS a weighty matter to be a decider of fate that we should treat somberly. At the same time, God put us on the Earth to be stewards—to rule with justice and mercy, so there is a place for it biblically. But let us judge appropriately—at the right times, with the right humility, and for the right reasons, and in a right fear of the God to whom we are accountable for even our idle words.

Thank you, Jesus for the grace you bought us on the cross, that frees us from the paralysis of our own condemnation, and give us the wisdom to decide rightly.

SDG