so choose life in order that

If you asked me a decade ago if I was in favor of the death penalty, not only would I have said "Absolutely", but I would have volunteered to be the one who pulled the switch. A few years ago my stance softened as I considered Gen18 and read up on Catholic teachings on the sanctity of human life. Evangelical Republicans preach the evils of abortion while ignoring their staunch advocacy of capital punishment, something I was having second thoughts about. This week, a senseless tragedy occurred, and facebook statuses of a large number of my Christian friends railed for the killer to be caught, and when he was himself killed, a surprisingly large number of Christian friends reveled in his death.

Let me be clear on this point: bloodlust masqueraded as justice is terribly wrong.

Second thoughts no longer exist on this issue, as I am convinced there is no reconciling being against abortion with supporting capital punishment. Life is life -- whether it is the life of an innocent one, or the life of the most wicked of us all. Christ came to redeem the lives of both these types. A Christian cannot, cannot root for death to win. That is like rooting for the Empire, or rooting for the Axis. John10 makes the very clear distinction between what Christ brings (LIFE) and what the devil is all about (DEATH). Even when seeking justice, one cannot side with death. Death is the enemy; death is the consequence of sin; death entered the world via liar's lies; death is the opposite of the good news of God.

My heart breaks at injustice, and every inch of me seeks for God to strike down evil. In fact, I pray for His smiting on my enemies. But in the end, my sense of justice is often very different from God's sense of justice. And my sense of proper consequences is very different from God's sense of proper consequences. So rather than think about justice and consequences (of which I am clearly often wrong), far better for me to think about something I do know about -- the good news of God: that Christ came to vanquish death and bring life.

Deut30 presents us the choice to choose between life and death. Not life sometimes and death sometimes, but to choose one over the other. I choose life, the side represented by Christ. And you?