Strength for the Week - The Court of Opinion
The Court of Opinion
By Jenn M.
A few years ago I served on jury duty. I am probably one of the few people out there that actually wants to get picked for jury duty; that doesn’t try to get out of it; that really pays attention. I have always been fascinated with the criminal justice system. It’s a wonder that I didn’t pursue a criminal justice degree considering how up on the subject I am for a lay person! Anyway, this particular case I served on involved a theft. A man was on trial for breaking into a woman’s apartment that wasn’t home at the time and stealing a handful of her gold jewelry. Neighbors reported seeing a man who fit his description on the apartment grounds. By the time the police arrived, they caught him exiting the building (not her apartment) and saw he had a pocket full of the plaintiff’s jewelry. Now, you might have just read that and thought. “Guilty!” It sure seems that way but in our criminal justice system, things are just not that black and white. Hence the “presumed innocent until proven guilty” statement we are all familiar with. There are so many rules, so many formalities, and so many delays that can drag out court proceedings (and no doubt there is some human error in there somewhere which could be contributing to that). What I understood through this process however (even though there were definitely times I was like “What?!? Another recess?!?”), is that painstaking efforts are made to ensure the courts do not put an innocent person behind bars. I totally get that. Mistakes happen. A jury can convict the wrong person. It’s happened before and what a tragedy that is. What I also learned was that no matter how guilty he seemed, my job as a juror was not to form an opinion on his guilt or innocence. My job was to apply the law. There are two types of evidence you can convict someone on; direct evidence and circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence is when someone witnesses the crime as it is happening or with modern advances in DNA testing. Circumstantial evidence is to draw an inference of guilt based on a series of facts. For example, no one saw this man take the jewelry so there was no direct evidence in this case. All we knew was the defendant didn’t live there, he was apprehended and possessed jewelry belonging to someone else that he did not have permission to take. We can conclude then based on the circumstances, that he must have been the one to take the jewelry. Or can we? Enter in reasonable doubt. If the prosecution (as the burden solely rests on them to prove a person’s guilt) cannot convince the court beyond reasonable doubt that this person committed the crime, then we should not issue a guilty verdict. Reasonable doubt would raise a question in one’s mind. For example, (and especially with no direct evidence), is it reasonable to think that someone else stole the jewelry, just so happened to run into the defendant afterwards and sold it to him? If that isn’t “reasonable” in one’s mind than you must issue a guilty verdict. The point here is that in the end it simply doesn’t matter how things seem. It doesn’t matter what I think or what my opinion is. What matters is what does the law dictate I do? While it may turn out that my opinion lines up with the law, if I never considered and applied the law to the best of my ability, then I have done a grave disservice to all those who will be affected by my choice to disregard it.
Brothers and sisters when it comes to God’s Word we must be careful that we are not forming opinions or judgments when we haven’t given proper consideration to the Bible. I have seen this happen from time to time among Christians. We take firm positions and form opinions on things that may very be in opposition of God’s Word. The problem with this is we are making these determinations without “applying the law”; without considering what God has to say about it. By doing this, we put not only ourselves but others in a dangerous position where we can be led astray. In the most severe cases, we can represent God falsely to others and any God fearing Christian would cringe at the thought of those things. Listen, I enjoy a good debate but I won’t take a strong stance on something if I know I haven’t really studied up on it. To me that is foolish and even rebellious. I think the same way when it comes to applying God’s word. I am human of course so with a yielded heart I rely on the Lord to help me to think before I speak; to help me pause for consideration and make room for the Holy Spirit to do His truth revealing work. Some things we can discern right away and dismiss because they clearly don’t line up with Scripture. Like the notion that there is more than one way to heaven; false! (John 14:6). Other times there may be Biblical things you read and hear that you are not familiar with. Instead of taking it in, you react very strongly against it yet all the while never asking yourself “Is there something for me to learn here?” It’s important to remember that we as Christians can get it wrong sometimes. We can misunderstand or misinterpret God’s Word.
So how do we “apply the law”? First, you pray and study the Word then you seek counsel from other trusted Christians if need be. Also, be alert to what other Christians are saying. If you experience that gnawing sense in your sprit after reading or hearing something challenging or unfamiliar to you, research it! Perhaps God is trying to move you into a deeper and clearer understanding of Him and/or yourself. If you are studying something then you’re a student. Since we should always be studying and reading God’s Word, we need to remain open and pliable to what He wants to teach us. Even after considering all of the above, there can still be differing lines of thought. If that is the case, we must leave the matter in God’s hands and not belabor the point.
As you move forward in your walk, let us begin or continue to humble ourselves before God and always look to His Word as our final authority.
Amen and God bless you all!
Proverbs 16:1-2 - The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes but the Lord weighs the spirit.
Vs. 25: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Proverbs 18:2 - A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
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