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TL;DR:
Missionaries must embody Jesus’ merciful and forgiving spirit while avoiding permissive tolerance of sin. Jesus balanced justice and mercy—He condemned sin but extended transformative forgiveness, praying for His persecutors and restoring the repentant. Genuine mercy and forgiveness heal relationships and model Christ’s grace amid cultural tension. The page closes with reflection questions about balancing truth with mercy and an acrostic defining “MERCIFUL” through virtues like empathy, forgiveness, and compassion.
"Judge" is one of the titles or roles ascribed to Jesus. Matthew 25, Acts 10 and 17, and 2 Corinthians 5 all call Jesus our judge. That being said, the most common image of Jesus that pops into people's minds is not that of "judge." Isn't the most common image of Jesus that of a merciful and forgiving Savior?
Sometimes, we think of justice as the harsh opposite of mercy. That's not true in the case of Jesus. He denounced sin and warned of consequences for wrongdoing. He condemned the hypocrisy of those whose conduct fell far short of their words. He drove out those who were turning the Temple courts into a marketplace.
On the other hand, didn't Jesus pray, "Father, forgive them"? There is also His gracious encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well and His restoration of Peter after Peter's failure. At the same time, however, it must be clear that the merciful, forgiving side of Jesus did not turn into a codependency with people who remained trapped in destructive patterns. Jesus' mercy and forgiveness were transformative.
As cross-cultural missionaries enter other cultures, they may encounter destructive spiritual and social forces. They may watch what seem to be corrosive patterns of living destroy relationships and even people, and they will feel compelled to speak up. They will feel called to denounce sin. They must stand up against oppressors. Even while doing that, however, because they are Christ's ambassadors, shouldn't they also reflect the merciful and forgiving side of our Lord?
Some time ago, I listened as people in a European country described a missionary from the U.S.A. who had spent four years in their country. They said that missionary was hard to figure out. To them, he was somewhat like Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They said that whenever that American missionary preached, he seemed very tender-hearted, even to the point of often weeping. However, they said that out of the pulpit, it was a different story. When he was not preaching, that missionary came across as harsh, brittle, and unforgiving. The people he was trying to serve did not question the man's call or his determination to follow Jesus. Sadly, however, I never heard anyone hold him up as a role model or point to him as a spiritual mentor.
In cross-cultural situations, differing expectations and misunderstandings can be the order of the day. Missionaries will make cultural blunders and will fall short in other ways. They will need mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, they themselves must be merciful and forgiving, following the transformative pattern of our Lord and Savior.
— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
This blog post on Christlike attitudes and actions that need to be present in cross-cultural missionary service is one of a dozen articles in the "Missionary ministry that reflects Christ" series published in Engage magazine.
To be merciful and forgiving means to show compassion, kindness, and understanding toward others, especially when they have wronged you or made mistakes.
Mercy involves refraining from harsh punishment or judgment, even when it might be deserved. It's about offering help or support instead of retribution. Forgiveness is the act of letting go of resentment toward those who have hurt or wronged you. It doesn't mean forgetting what happened. Rather, it means choosing not to remain controlled by resentment or seek retaliation and becoming open to healing and moving forward.
Being merciful and forgiving requires empathy and a willingness to see the humanity in others, even when they've acted in ways that have caused pain or harm. Mercy and forgiveness are powerful expressions of grace that can lead to healing and reconciliation in relationships.
M - Magnanimous in heart, giving without end.
E - Empathy guiding each hand that we lend.
R - Radiating kindness in all that we do.
C - Compassion shining steady and true.
I - In times of hardship, offering grace.
F - Forgiving with love, no anger to trace.
U - Uniting the broken, mending the soul.
L - Lifting the weary to make them whole.
Like acrostics? Here are more of them.