Well… what would Jesus do?
At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire.
And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.
"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
Christ is pretty clear that there is very little tolerance in Heaven for anyone who harms children or takes their innocence. Short of cement shoes or lopping off various appendages of child molesters, which the law does not allow us to do, we are cautioned here not to be any part of allowing a child to be harmed. And here, sins of omission can’t be disregarded. Neglecting to protect our children is a crime. Leaving them unsupervised or in harm’s way is a crime.
Having said that, I live a few doors down from a convicted child molester. His victim was the same age as my daughters have been. He did his time in prison. He is married with small children now. I say hello to him. I wave when I drive by his house and he is watering his lawn. I make it a point to be friendly when he is out walking with his children. I am very kind to his daughter. I pray to God he has not done anything to her. And I wonder if he lives in a particular hell of worry now about her and his knowledge of what can happen to her. And if that is his punishment too.
Having said that, at least it’s good to know where the danger is. My daughters know that a criminal can be very normal looking. They aren’t all nasty strangers in trench coats lurking in dark alleys. This has heightened their awareness. They do not go to that house. They do not babysit there. They see me treat the man with courtesy. I tell the girls that he did his time in prison, which is more than many people who have victimized others have done. There ARE many people who get away with crimes and never get punished. So this man has three or four years of incarceration to contemplate. This is also a state where a second offense is reason to put them away for life. I’m sure he knows that. I’m more worried about the people out there who haven’t been caught.
God says to forgive. But use common sense. I wouldn’t throw rocks at a rabid dog. But I wouldn’t bring it into my house and keep it as a pet either. As one other poster said, these people can be very charming and manipulative and they prey on the goodwill of the exact people who want to forgive and be Christlike about it. There is no lower life than those who take advantage of people’s desire to be kind to victimize them.
I also wonder about a man who would bring a non-relative child molester into his house. What point is he trying to prove to himself or others? “Hey, girls, get your clothes on! Funny Uncle is coming to the party!”
I’d have yellow lights flashing in my head. Almost red lights.
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