Guilty Unless Proven Innocent

Our legal system hangs on "innocent until proven guilty." Now, not all do. Some assume the opposite, but most civilized countries go with this. Well, in theory. I say that because we've really moved on in practice, haven't we? "She" comes forward and says, "He sexually assaulted me" and before any trial, any examination, any dust gathers on the claim, "he" is out. He's lost his job, his reputation, his future hopes. It's over. Oh, yeah, I guess we should now examine the claim. Or, "He's white, so he's a racist." We can't be bothered with a "trial," with examining the facts and evidence, with testing the theory at all. We've arrived, in fact, at "He's black, but he's a tool of white supremacy merely by being a cop." Guilty almost without any possibility of being proven innocent. It's everywhere these days. Environmentalism, anti-rich, religion, on and on. Guilty until ... well, possibly forever. The standard for proof of innocence is pretty high.

We can't fix that, you and I. But we can address it in ourselves. And, you and I, are often guilty of it on a much more personal level. And that is problematic for us Christians. Jesus made it clear. "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you" (John 15:12). That's a pretty high standard from the one who gave Himself up, but it's the standard we must meet. Love one another to the point of giving up self. Now, we have a lengthy description of what that love looks like, including being patient and kind, not jealous or arrogant, not keeping account of wrongs, and not seeking its own. This love that we owe one another "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor 13:4-8). If our love for one another includes believing the best of one another, how does "guilty without being proven guilty" work for us? Doesn't the love we are commanded to give to one another demand we believe the best, even against much evidence?

The world will do what the world will do. It is, by nature, opposed to God. We are not. We are to be marked by love for one another (John 13:35). That should be our primary marching orders. Our society is known as a "cancel culture." We should not be part of that culture. We should be radical ... in love.