Could I Be Convicted of Being a Christian?
A few months ago, I saw Harold Rowlett at the Gibson household (who, by the way, I am very thankful for since they have been so gracious to put up the family minister in their basement for the past 12 months). Harold said “Dave, I got a sermon topic for you. How about ‘If I were arrested for being a Christian, would I be convicted?’” I said that was a great idea, and for the past few weeks, I’ve passed a bulletin board in the building that reminded me of that conversation, so this Sunday morning, that will be our sermon topic. Let’s start with a refresher on how people are convicted in the United States. According to uscourts.gov (the website for the federal courts in the United States), to be convicted of a crime, an individual has to:
1. Have evidence of their alleged crime presented to a grand jury by a U.S. Attorney
2. Have the grand jury review the evidence and determine whether it is sufficient for them to stand trial.
3. Go before a judge, who then determines whether there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed and the alleged offender is the one who committed it. If the judge believes the case meets those criteria, the judges sets a trial date and insures the defendant is represented by legal counsel.
4. At trial, the government must provide evidence to convince the jury of the defendant’s guilt and that evidence must convince the jury that they are guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” which means the evidence must be so strong that there is no reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime.”
5. More than 90% of defendants plead guilty before trial. If the case goes to trial, and a defendant is determined to be not guilty, the defendant is released and there is no process for the government to appeal the conviction. If the defendant is found guilty at trial, or pleads guilty earlier, the judge may impose a sentence immediately. More times than not, however, they await the results of a presentence investigation (PSI) report from a probation officer (or presentence investigator) before imposing a sentence.
So, you might say, thanks for the refresher on the federal court system, but what does this have to do with my Christianity? For an in-depth answer, please tune in (or, better yet, attend in person) on Sunday morning but for now, think about this:
1. With the exception of murder and motor vehicle theft, the majority of crimes committed in the United States each year are not brought to the attention of law enforcement, so there is no arrest, and thus no conviction. As Christians, EVERY thought and action/inaction is known to God, and thus can bring about a conviction- Hebrews 4:13; Proverbs 15:3
2. As Christians, we’re not tried before a jury of our peers. We will all be tried before God on judgment day, using what we have done and failed to do during our lives as evidence for or against us- Matthew 12:36-37
3. Our PSI report is written every day of our lives, not by our probation officer, but by us. When the time for sentencing comes, we want a positive sentence recommendation (and thus an eternity in heaven with God). If we are in Christ, that’s what we will receive- Romans 8:1; Hebrews 9:27-28
Let’s resolve to live each day so that our PSI on judgment day insures our conviction as a follower of Christ, and thus an eternity in heaven with Him. On Sunday, we’ll discuss some strategies to make that happen.
— Dave May
