EXCUSES DON’T EXCUSE

If we are ever hauled into court for breaking a law and the only excuse we can come up with is that we did not know that what we did was against the law, we are going to be met with a stony indifference by the judge. Ignorance of the law is no excuse and neither is any misunderstanding of the law. Society presumes we know the laws of the land and metes out punishment based on that presumption.

The same is true when it come to the laws, the requirements, the commandments of our faith. Were we to stand before God right now, if this would be our judgment day, and try to excuse our sinful behavior by claiming we did not know or understand the laws and commandments we broke, God would certainly be a more understanding judge but would also kindly remind us that ignorance is no excuse.

It is our responsibility both as citizens and as Christians to know right from wrong, to know what the law allows and what it does not. That is a standard of all societies from time immemorial. Some societies, cultures and institutions may be more lenient or forgiving than others, but none condone irresponsible behavior, namely one’s deliberate ignorance of right and wrong.

That is not the whole point at issue here even as we often use it as the underlying excuse when we do not do what we know we should do or do what we know we should not do. There are times when we deliberately do not do what the law demands because we engage in endless disputes about the meaning of the law. We even take pleasure in taking part in such arguments. It made us look good in the eyes of our peers. It makes us seem important because we are acting as if we really know what we are talking about when we truly do not.

Yes, we need to know and understand the law, but, more importantly, we need to live it and we cannot live it if we spend all our time talking about and around it. Yes, there are those who must engage in serious discussions about the law and the commandments to determine how they apply to each generation and to changing times and knowledge and circumstances. But even those professional scholars must live out their faith each moment of each day.

None of this may seem shocking or even debatable. That is true. What is also true is that there are times in the lives of each and every one of us when we get into arguments about what our faith requires because we want to delay fulfilling those requirements. We may not think this to be a big deal until we remember that our delay may result in another person’s being hurt or not ministered to.

That, I think, is what we need to be constantly in mind of. We can always find an excuse why we cannot or should not do what our faith demands of us and try to convince ourselves that we are in the right. But we know better. We were taught better. There really is never any excuse for not doing what we need to and must do. Excuses don’t excuse no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves that they do.