I must admit my guilty
pleasure is the show Justified on FX (now, in its 5th season). I call it my guilty pleasure because of
the language and violence, not exactly a family friendly show. Raylan Givens
(the show’s main character) is like a modern day cowboy working as a Deputy
U.S. Marshal in Kentucky.
From Wikipedia: Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is something of a 19th-century–style, Old West lawman living in modern times, whose unconventional enforcement of justice makes him a target of criminals as well as his U.S. Marshals Service bosses. As a result of his controversial but "justified" quick-draw shooting of mob hitman Tommy Bucks in Miami, Givens is reassigned from Miami to Lexington, Kentucky. The Lexington Marshals office's jurisdiction includes Harlan County, where Raylan grew up and which [he] thought he had escaped for good in his youth.
Juxtaposed to Raylan on the
show is Boyd Crowder. Boyd is a career criminal in Harlan County, Kentucky who
begins season one robbing banks as a white supremacist.
(L to R) Boyd and Raylan
[***Spoiler Alert – if you have
not watched the show and plan to***]
In season one, Raylan shoots
Boyd in the chest. Boyd survives the gunshot, goes to jail, and comes out a
changed man, having given his life to the Lord. He appears to be truly redeemed,
gathers a group of followers he calls his flock, and opposes his father’s narcotics
enterprise in Harlan County. That opposition leads to retaliation, when his
father comes in and kills every member of Boyd’s flock.
As a result of the massacre,
Boyd begins to question his beliefs. He can’t understand why God would allow
all the men in his church to be killed.
You can understand why this
would be a traumatic event. However, this is also where I find Boyd’s theology
to be a little short-sided.
Philippians 1:21 states, “For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
This is a verse we often
miss in our attachment to this world. Sometimes we elevate the importance of
our time here. We are scared to die.
The truth is, when you are
found in Christ, what is waiting on the other side is so much better than
anything we can imagine here.
Boyd called his band of
misfits the Church of the Last Chance Salvation. The members were former
criminals that Boyd had managed to convert to Christ as they lived in tents in
the middle of the woods. Now, if they had truly been converted, Boyd should be
able to celebrate in that he has not lead these men to their death, but instead they have found life. Although they have lost their earthly lives, they now live
forever in Jesus Christ.
Now, I understand this is
just a television show. But, I believe this is a verse often missed among those
who question God’s mercy and justice. Have you ever heard the question, “how
can God allow this person to die?” Or “why does God not heal this person? He/she
is a Christian.” Once again, I understand the sentiment. Jesus himself is moved
to tears when he loses one of his friends here on this earth. But, if you
believe Philippians 1, those questions lose some credibility.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
To win the race, you’ve got
to cross the finish line.
