- a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; -
Funny story. I thought this verse would be one post. The first part seemed quite difficult, so I started with the second half.
It turns out, I had a lot to say about the second half… and the first.
First off, a time to heal. What’s that talking about?
Well, obviously we can only heal when an injury has taken place. Something must be broken for a repair to be made.
What happens when we attempt to fix something that’s healthy? Well, nothing, or we get a “cure” with side effects.
I’m nervous to make the assertion, but something must be said at this juncture about sex change surgeries, especially those affecting children.
Many of the side effects in these surgeries and hormone treatments are never discussed.
Those with healthy bodies can lose the ability to reproduce, experience failure of their new organs (both in forming and in performance), and scarring of skin tissue associated with graphs (forearms are typically used when young girls transition).
Children, when society gives them the authority to, make all these decisions before they even know the cost.
Here’s something said in complete humility: there may be such states of the brain and sickness that make gender reassignment surgery necessary.
I don’t claim to know them, and I think like suffering, it is important for people to accept their lot from God.
But, I cannot see the logic of giving that decision to children. Why heal that which is healthy?
Now, when is it the right time to kill? This Old Testament is mean.
Let’s talk about why this question rubs us the wrong way. First, this is a luxury belief. One we have bought with millenniums of civilization.
The real problem we have with this idea? Why would God make a world where killing was a part of it?
That’s a damning question, and one even the greatest of religious scholars have struggled with.
Thankfully, they’ve provided some good answers for us.
First off, imagine the perfect world. Do you have it in your head? It’s probably garden like with no death, all the feasting you can imagine, and God’s honored there.
Now imagine that’s all you’ve ever known.
You’re definitely safe, but are you strong?
If given the choice between the two, which do you wish for your children?
The Oedipal mother wishes to protect her young from the world and becomes the very force that destroys them. By never letting them grow, she destroys who they might have been.
Are her children safe? Undoubtedly. Are they worth having around?
C. S. Lewis says you may hate God for making it this way, but just remember, it’s your rationale that He gave you that allows you to judge Him.
When you’re handed the responsibility of a dangerous world, you gain the ability to be dangerous within it.
What should happen to people that abuse that freedom?
If there is no judgement, what good is a God who claims to stand for it?
There must be punishment for there to be justice, and therefore goodness.
So when is it right to kill? When the situation is so dire in this fallen world that death is the only remedy by which justice can be served.
Do missionaries kill those they minister to? What about the father holding off the intruder from his children’s bedroom?
That judgement does indeed belong to God. I can’t help but think about verses on killing in Lev. 24:17 and turning the other cheek in Matt. 5:39.
Neither answer this question fully. I have no doubt that God left us with this tension to wrestle it out within our own lives.
It must be treated with extreme reverence and fear, for to do so is to invite your own death by the hand of another.