You’d be forgiven for thinking that journalists and media personalities receive a daily talking points sheet filled with coordinated messaging from some secret source.
After all, peruse your typical news site and themes and trends start to emerge – not so much the stories themselves, but also the language used in telling or framing the story itself.
Today, the Term du jour is “retribution” – a word stemming from the Latin verb “retribuere,” which means “to pay back” or “give in return.” Merriam Webster defines it as “dispensing or receiving of reward or punishment” and “something given or exacted in recompense.”
As Christians, we know from Jesus’ teaching that we’re to leave that type of punishment to the Lord. From Matthew’s Gospel, we read Jesus’ own words, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you not to resist an evildoer. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other also.”
The apostle Paul echoed that sentiment when he wrote to Christians in Rome, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
But does that mean we’re to simply fold our hands in prayer or throw them up altogether and simply wait for punishment to be applied supernaturally? No.
Justice is a core characteristic of God and He calls on us to do our part to enact it in this world. There is nothing inherently out of bounds in seeking to right a wrong, especially when those wrongs inflict harm on His people. We read in Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
The prophet Isaiah similarly warns and counsels, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause (1:17).”
While the goal of justice is to restore what sin has stolen, the aim or intent of retribution is generally self-focused, i.e., “an eye for an eye.”
What’s telling is that when reporters often write about retribution, they’re generally focused on the response to the offense rather than getting into the details or even the validity of the problematic or illegal activity that started the whole process. Instead, they should be investigating the merits of the core concern and addressing what can and should be done about it to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
One could be left with the impression that those calling out so-called “payback” are hoping that our attention won’t go back to the beginning or root cause of the offense.
Christians can rest in God’s ultimate authority and final word. In just these last few weeks, Erika Kirk, the widow of slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, has provided us with a powerful example of how best to balance the distinctions of justice and retribution.
In announcing that she had forgiven her husband’s assassin, Erika is doing her personal part in navigating a gross injustice. At the same time, she is leaving the prosecution of the individual to Utah prosecutors, even up to the possibility of the death penalty.
We pray that justice will be served.
Image from Shutterstock.