personal justice

in my small group last night, the topic of having a personal sense of justice came up. it was interesting so i will do my best to transcribe the story to you now and allow you to come to your own conclusion.

the story: a man has a son who is friends with a boy down the street. they spend a great deal of time together, but the parents aren't really friends. they are friendly with one another, but don't speak regularly and don't know what is happening in the others lives. while the boys are playing together, they often leave some personal belongings at the other boys house. neither set of parents has a problem with this until my friends boy leaves his bike at the other boys house.

a couple of months without his bike, my friends son realizes he should go get it so he can go on a bike ride with his dad. the other boys father answers the door and tells him the bike isn't there and that he is too busy to have to worry about this boys bike. he is a little rude to the boy, who is only 10 years old, but we think nothing of it. the boy goes home, borrows his mothers bike and rides with his father.

several weeks later, the father and son wish to ride bikes again. they go, together this time, to the neighbor to ask for the boys bike. this time, the man is more threatening and a little hostile. he insists that the bike is not in his possession and that they are disturbing him by coming over. he actually uses the phrase "i am not your sons keeper." great. he also says, "if you are looking for your bike, ask my son. he may know where it is." so they do just that and the boy tells them it is leaned against the side of his house, the very house the man just said he had searched, to no avail.

an hour or so later, the man leaves his home and my friend and his son walk to his house to peer over the fence and see if they can see the boys bike. they can, though it is in a state of disrepair. it is apparent that it has been run over by a car and no longer works. they open the gate, walk in and get the broken bike, and walk home.

the context: we were discussing men being men and my friend told this anecdote to ask the question, what does a warrior (read wild at heart and you will understand) do in this situation? i should clarify, we are not reading wild at heart, but an excerpt from the book came up in our prayer time.

so, i ask you, what would a passionate man who is following Gods call in his life and living the life of a warrior, the life of adventure, do in this situation? would he go back to the neighbor and confront him, show his sons that we are meant to defend our family and our stuff and be the Lords deliverers of justice? should he inform the man that he is taking him to small claims court if he doesn't replace the boys bike? should he demand that the man at least apologize to his son and show his son that things done in secret will eventually be brought into the light?

what if i told you that this man had just split with his wife? what if i said that his entire family had just left and moved somewhere else? his whole life had just fallen apart and he had just lost those he cared about most. i'm not trying to make him the victim. i'm sure he was at least half to blame for his marriage falling apart and the effects that will have on his children.

but what if all that were true? does it matter? why does our personal sense of justice depend on the circumstances of the others involved? are we willing to show more grace to someone who is more broken? what is the Godly thing to do, not the religious thing to do, but the Godly thing to do?