SPECIAL PRÉCIS ON THE ALTERNATIVE TO BLANKET FORGIVENESS: IMPRECATION TOWARD JUSTICE FOR THE UNREPENTANT

PREFACE. I was frankly reluctant to post his essay since it does not paint this old man in a particularly favorable light (vanity exists!). But the Lord made it clear that I was to “Deploy it!” with the Rationale that it can provide lessons for us all for the difficult days ahead. DK

SCRIPTURE. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for God’s wrath [and His judicial righteousness]; for it is written [in Scripture], ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” – ROMANS 12:19, AMP

KEY TERM: “VENGEANCE.” ‘Ekdikésis’ [ἐκδίκησις]: “Vindication, Retribution, Punishment, Justice.” Also: “The maintenance of what is right; support, protection; properly, judgment which fully executes the core-values (standards) of the particular judge.” NOTE: “The term ‘ekdikésis’ primarily refers to the act of avenging or dispensing Justice. In the New Testament, it is often used in the context of Divine Retribution or Justice, emphasizing God’s role as the Ultimate Judge Who will right wrongs and punish evil.”

QUOTATION. “‘Cheap Grace’ is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. ‘Cheap Grace’ is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

‘Costly Grace’ is the Treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the Pearl of Great Price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the Kingly Rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the Call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

‘Costly Grace’ is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the Gift which must be asked for, the Door at which a man must knock. Such Grace is Costly because it calls us to follow, and it is Grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is Costly because it costs a man his life, and it is Grace because it gives a man the only True Life.” – DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, Costly Grace, 1937; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Dearly beloved.’ He useth this friendly compellation, the better to persuade to the following duty, which is so hard to flesh and blood. ‘Avenge not yourselves.’ You had an exhortation to this purpose, Romans 12:17; but considering the proneness of corrupt nature to private and personal revenge, He renews His exhortation, and enlargeth upon it. This seems to be borrowed from Leviticus 19:18.

‘But rather give place unto wrath.’Say some, ‘your own wrath.’ Be not angry, or suffer not your anger to hurry you to revenge; give way a little, and walk aside, as Ahasuerus did, when his wrath kindled against Haman. Others refer it to the wrath of those who wrong us; decline their wrath, as David did Saul’s; put up wrongs and injuries. But it is better referred to the Wrath of God, which they seem to prevent who seek revenge. Suffer God to Vindicate and Right you, to Avenge you of your adversaries; commit your cause to Him, and do not take His work out of His hand.” – MATTHEW POOLE, English Annotations on the Holy Bible, 1685; edited

THE INCIDENT. Briefly, I returned to my very favorite Starbucks near I-25 at InterQuest Parkway on Friday March 7, 2025, where I had grown to love every single barista and especially the manager there named Amber who all treated me like everybody’s favorite customer.

When I walked in to get my standard Cold Brew, I discovered that Amber had gone on leave to take care of some family matters for a month unbeknownst to me, and a woman named Kristina, a malicious individual who had browbeat three of my favorite baristas at another store and fired them rather brutally, was then managing side-by-side with her district manager (Bodyguard, not kidding!) from hell.

Two to three years ago she was managing another store in the Briargate Shops and ended up three times accusing me, falsely, of harassing her female staff and publicly demanded that I leave the store. Before God, for reasons that to this day I do not understand since the staff were all dear to me and would often greet me affectionately with a hug or handshake every time I came into the store. One of them named McKenzie even bought me a blanket since when I worked at the store it was often very cold.

Consequently, when I saw her and the DM in this store, I confess I was shocked and dismayed because of what had happened in the past. So, when I went to pick up my order I said a quiet prayer asking the Lord if I should talk to Kristina at all. I sensed a release (which I now question) to do so and waited till the employees had left her in a quiet part of the store and asked her, respectfully, “Kristina, a word please?

Had to call her name twice since she obviously didn’t want to speak with me. When she finally came over, I very quietly said that I wanted her to understand that if she had any intentions of treating me in like manner again, it would not be permitted – or words to that effect.

Next thing I know, ‘Bigfoot,’ who stands about 6’4″ came very near to me, glowering, and ordered me out of the store. Again! Now most of you know that I’ve a bit of a temper but I held it back and asked why (not very politely confess). He said: “Because you’re threatening my employee.”

Anyway, that’s more detail than you needed, but it left me rocked from its humiliation as the kids that I love so much watched me get publicly booted. Also, because of my outrage and sense of wounding and repeated disgrace of being bullied again by these two, I found myself uncharacteristically distressed.

I did report them to Corporate a little later in the day and found out that after an hour on the phone it would be referred to – wait for it – the District Manager!

There is Divine Humor here that gave me a chuckle.

But then something rather unusual and helpful occurred as I asked the Lord what I should do, if anything, and this is what I swear to you I heard Him say for the very first time in my 44 years walking with Him.

“What would you like me to do, son?”

Surprised, I responded with something like this: “If that is really you Sir, I want you to remove these two from the positions of influence they now have. Not so much for what they did to me but because of how they treat the kids by browbeating them and harming them. They do not deserve to be in management.”

All of which left me gave me cause for deep personal examination and made it very difficult for me even after lots of prayer to post my Saturday Commentary the following day (you may have noted I was quite subdued in the video presentation). My wife says I should’ve just turned around and left the store and said nothing and she may well have been right, on reflection.

My reasoning was that this had occurred before, and I did not believe it was right to let it continue without correction.

SCRIPTURE. Hours later I was led to ROMANS 12:19 through which God assured me that I was not to take any revenge, that: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay!” And that’s where it stands. I am doing my best to walk away from all of it and I’m now getting my coffee at another store.

THE LESSONS. (1) On reflection, it may have been better to just walk away and get my coffee from another store until Amber returns. This to avoid a ruckus for the young baristas to witness. (2) I could have offered my apology to the two leaders for anything I did to offend them, knowing to the best of my knowledge, I did nothing wrong. (3) Followed the course that I did for lessons to all involved based on Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28.

I suppose that apart from my own emotional bias in all this, I was interested seeking Justice Done rather than my own satisfaction of ‘Getting back’ at them. I also believe it was God preparing me for rougher treatment in the days ahead, to teach me greater discipline when they occur.

Your Views are most welcome here, and may God bless the Truth of it.