Thankful Thursday: We All Stand Forgiven

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“He can turn this test into a testimony;
He can turn this mess into a message.”

Rev. Tim Storey,
Spiritual Adviser to Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman

But does that mean that his television series can or should go back on the air?
That’s the question that A&E executives have not yet answered.

The Good News today is that Dog, like the rest of us, is forgiven. Whether or not the television-watching public forgives, forgets, and is willing to tune back in is, in the long run, of no import. If Dog really understands why his behavior was completely, utterly wrong, and totally without justification, — and repents — he will stand forgiven. In the eyes of the Savior who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we never have to, the slate will be wiped clean. Forever.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Psalm 51:16-17
The Message

If you saw Dog on Hannity and Combes last night or Larry King’s show this evening, you saw a broken man. Gone is the swagger, the supreme self-confidence, the arrogance. The trademark Dog demeanor has been replaced with the look of a frightened little puppy staring at you through the wire cage at your local animal shelter, hoping you’ll take him home with you. Dog wiped away tears as he struggled to explain his reprehensible behavior: “I thought that I was cool enough in the black world to be able to use that word as a brother to a brother. I’m not. I didn’t really know until three or four days ago what that meant to black people.”

What?

Dog’s face is lined by years of hard living, including a prison stint, and the rigors of raising 12 children, as well as burying at least one of them. In all that living, he never developed an understanding about what the single-most egregiously hurtful racial epithet meant to its targets? Does he really think anyone is going to believe that?

Is is just a coincidence that his spiritual adviser is an African-American minister or is Tim Storey’s presence next to Dog across the desk from Larry King a shrewdly calculated public relations maneuver?

My suspicious nature says it is probably the latter.

But the Bible tells me to have a generous and forgiving spirit, modeled after the spirit of the One I follow.

Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

2 Corinthians 4:1-2

We have all had “Dog moments.” We have all done and said things we regret. We’ve all hurt — unintentionally — someone else with our harsh words, unkind thoughts, selfishness. We’ve all been embarrassed, humiliated, humbled by our own shortcomings.

We may not have had those experiences with the whole country watching, but the magnitude of our failings has been just as significant within our own families and neighborhoods.

It is not my place to judge Dog’s spirit or beliefs. It is not for me to say whether or not he has a truly contrite heart, humble spirit, and sincere desire never to commit the same sins again.

I am thankful today that, like Dog, I claim and cling to the forgiveness that is so freely given to those who ask for it. Whether or not Dog gets his fame, television audience, and financial riches back within his grasp, he can, like other believers, know the peace that passes understanding by falling on his knees, repenting, and claiming the promises set forth in the Gospels. Television fame is fleeting. Salvation is eternal.

Dog truly can turn this debacle into a message and ministry of hope, love, and atonement. He can make his life a living testament to the power of faith. Will he?

Will I? Will you?

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

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