We forgive the thieving producer, we don’t keep him around

By Scott Hiilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
When the producer collects fees for cowboys” memberships but doesn’t turn them in to the association, what’s a Christian supposed to do?
We know Jesus teaches us to forgive but money has been stolen from members, wrongs have been committed and trust is broken.
We forgive anyway.
But forgiveness doesn’t mean we have to be reconciled with that person. We can both forgive and ban him from the association. We can both forgive, and if the crime is serious enough, choose to hand it over to the police and let them take it from there.
Jesus teaches us in Matthew the seriousness of our need to forgive others and says this: Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
The bottom line here is that we can’t expect God to forgive us if we don’t forgive others.
Right before this, Jesus teaches something important about what forgiveness means. While he is teaching us how to pray, he says this: Matthew 6:11-12 Give us this day our daily bread 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
This means we no longer hold on to what was done to us that we have forgiven the person for. As short and simple as verse 12 is, Jesus is showing us that nothing is required from the other person for us to forgive their debt. When we have truly forgiven someone, we no long hold what they did against us, but they aren’t required to even feel bad about it. True forgiveness means nothing more is held against us even if we haven’t done anything to deserve it. That’s what we receive from God when we have a saving faith in Jesus.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for the person we have forgiven.
1 Corinthians 15.33 Do not be deceived, bad company ruins good morals
This is just one place in scripture that we’re taught there are times when we have to separate ourselves from others.
We know from other scripture the importance of protecting our family and resources and we know about the importance of accountability and even church discipline that can require a sinner to ultimately be removed from the body of believers if he remains unrepentant and unwilling to make things right.
So we can understand there are going to be times when forgiveness is given, even when the person doesn’t have remorse for what has happened.
If the producer has a record of not paying his actual financial debt, you don’t have to continue working with him. If you’ve cheated on your girlfriend, she doesn’t have to trust you and take you back again, even if you have repented and genuinely feel bad.
There are many people in prison who feel guilt and shame for what they did to get them there. And there are many who feel genuine remorse and have repented, but there are still consequences for their actions.
We forgive, but sometimes consequences remain including separating ourselves from the person or situation.