The Painful Power of Forgiveness

George Müller once said, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.” 

Theresa and I went to Burundi not long after the great ethnic conflict there between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. We could feel the tension the moment we arrived in Burundi. I noticed that there were no dogs as we had seen running freely in other African nations. When I asked about it, I was told that they had all been shot because they had started eating human bodies in the streets. That starkly reminded me of how fresh the wounds were in this country.

The first public speaking I did was to a national pastors gathering of several thousand Hutu and Tutsi pastors. I spoke to the truth of scripture where it says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21, NKJV).

I went on. “You have the obligation to model the cross of Christ and teach forgiveness, even for those who have killed your loved ones and would kill you.” There was a stunned silence as I opened the altar for those who were willing to forgive. 

Suddenly, one of the pastors knelt and began to wail. His wail was like nothing I had ever heard before. All I could think was this must be the sound of a person coming home to find his family murdered. This haunting cry and the sobbing after it spread like fire throughout the crowd. 

Then from the depths of the grief, an incredible joy broke out. The sobbing gave way to dancing and shouting and hugging. It was astonishing to watch. God had broken down the barriers between them that would have been impossible to dismantle in the natural. 

If we do not love other people, the Bible says we are not yet perfected in God. Where do we get the power to do this, to forgive like this? It comes from God and faith in his power to turn our hearts from old things to his truth. 

_{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}