Ep 171 ｜ Biblical Forgiveness： The Mercy of Brandt Jean
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Summary
Amber Geiger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the murder of Botham Jean, who was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer in his own apartment in Dallas, Texas. Some have questioned the severity of the sentence, and others have questioned whether or not it was warranted. In this episode, we discuss the case from a biblical perspective.
Transcript
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Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Monday. I hope everyone has had a great and restful
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weekend. Today, by popular demand, we are going to be talking about the case of Botham Jean,
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really the moving speech that was given by his brother that kind of went viral last week,
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some of the controversy that unfortunately surrounded that speech and the reaction to it.
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We're going to be talking a little bit about biblical forgiveness, really how we should be
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approaching this situation and talking about this situation from a biblical perspective. I'm going
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to play you a bit of that speech so we can have some context. Okay. Now, without further ado,
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I want to play you part of this speech by Brant Jean, who is the brother of Botham Jean.
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We, the jury, find unanimously that the defendant did not cause the death of Botham Jean while under
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the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause and assess the defendant's
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punishment at 10 years imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In addition,
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we assess a fine of zero dollars and it's signed by the presiding juror. Would you like to have the
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jury poll? Okay. Is there any legal reason why this sentence should not now be imposed?
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I'm not going to say I hope you rot and die just like my brother did, but I personally want the best
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for you. And I wasn't going to ever say this in front of my family or anyone, but I don't even
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want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that's what, that's exactly what
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Botham would want you to do. And the best would be give your life to Christ. I don't know if this is
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possible, but can I give her a hug, please? Please? Yes.
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So for those of you who don't know the situation, Botham Jean last year was killed by an off-duty
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police officer, Amber Geiger. If you are unfamiliar with the case, Geiger walked into Jean's apartment
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and shot him. She claims that she thought that she was walking into her own apartment and that
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she saw some large shadowy figure coming at her and assumed that someone had broken in.
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She received 10 years in prison and was charged with murder, not actually manslaughter. Some people
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believe that this sentencing was too light for murder. Some even thought that it was too heavy
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because it was not premeditated murder and was to some people essentially manslaughter too. That's how
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some people see this. It was essentially manslaughter, but it was not an accidental killing.
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It wasn't one that happened by happenstance. It was an intentional killing of a man with a gun.
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It may have been a lapse in judgment. It may have been a hasty decision based on maybe she thought that
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she had to fear for her life, but it wasn't as far as we can tell premeditated, as far as we can tell
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there wasn't any malicious intent, but it wasn't really technically an accident. She intended to
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kill him and she did, which is why she was convicted of murder, but she was only given 10 years,
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probably because of the lack of intent, malintent, and the unique circumstances surrounding the
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situation. It was, I mean, I was surprised, honestly, that it was only 10 years actually, but
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I don't know enough to say necessarily that it wasn't an appropriate sentencing. A lot of people
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are jumping to a lot of conclusions saying that it wasn't appropriate either one way or the other.
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I'm just going to be honest and say, I don't really know. I will defer to the expertise of the judge
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in this case. I was surprised, but I just can't say with authority one way or the other whether it was
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appropriate or right. There is a lot that we don't know here. There's a lot that I don't know here.
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There's a lot that you don't know here. We don't know really what happened. All we have are accounts
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of what happened. We don't know exactly everything that went down. We don't know what was going
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through Geiger's mind. We don't know if there was any, a malintent on her part. We're assuming that
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there wasn't, but we don't actually know. We have no idea. Only Geiger and God know everything that
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happened that night, but there are some things, there are some things that we do know. We know that
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Gene was 26. He was an accountant at PWC in Dallas. He was known by his friends, his family,
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and coworkers as kind, as friendly, and the kind of person that you just wanted to be around.
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It is a tragic event no matter what when someone is murdered, but there seems to be this extra sting
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when people's lives are taken at a time that feels to us premature when they're in the prime of their
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lives with so much ahead of them. That just makes it a little bit more stomach turning,
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I would say. Assuming that the testimony of his friends and family is true, we also know
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that Gene was a Christian, which would mean that right now, as we speak, he is worshiping in the
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presence of Jesus. He is more whole, more joyful, more content, more satisfied than any of us will
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ever know on this side of eternity. So while we feel, while I feel that he has missed out on so much
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of life, we can know for sure as Christians that he does not feel like he is missing out on anything.
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He doesn't wish that he was anywhere else. He is not worried about what was ahead of him in life.
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He is fully content as he is right now. We also know as Christians that we serve a sovereign God
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whose ways are not our ways, whose thoughts are not our thoughts, that while I believe God truly feels
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the pain during tragic events like this, in the same way that Jesus wept when Lazarus died,
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even knowing he would raise him from the dead, God was not surprised by this. He was not thrown off
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because nothing happens apart from his will. Now, when I say his will, I don't mean his moral will,
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like something like this pleases him, but I mean his sovereign will, as in it did not escape his
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control or his foreknowledge. We also know that according to Romans 8, 28, God works all things
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together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. This does not
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mean that everything works out in the way that we want it to, or that God's definition of good,
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which has eternal significance, is our definition of good, which is usually of fleeting and selfish
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significance. God's definition of good is his glory, which ultimately is also our good. We know that as
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Joseph says to his brothers who threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery, only to later bow down
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to worship him as a ruler of Egypt. And Genesis 50, 20 says this, as for you, you meant evil against
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me, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are
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today. Side note, if you have not read that story recently, I highly recommend it. Genesis is filled
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with riveting stories that point to God's power and his faithfulness. We also know that as Job says to
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God, after everything had been taken away from him, after he suffered significant tragedies,
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after he is rebuked by God for questioning his fate in Job 42, 2, I know that you, God, can do all
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things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. We also know that as Jeremiah says, as he prays for
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understanding, uh, in Jeremiah 32, 17, uh, Lord God, it is you who have made the heavens and the earth
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by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. Nothing is too hard for
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you. God is not limited by human authority or power or laws. Nothing is too hard for him. There
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is no such thing as an obstacle to God. There are no challenges. Nothing confuses him. He is not
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stumped by complexity. God has never had to figure things out. There are no questions. God is seeking
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the answer to. He is the source of all wisdom and knowledge. This is something that we can know,
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even in times that are confusing and tragic. Uh, there has never been anything that God has struggled to
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accomplish. He is all powerful. He has no worthy opponents. He has no formidable adversaries. Uh,
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his word does not return void. His plans are always executed in perfect accordance to as well. And his
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purposes are never not for one second, not even a little bit hindered. Uh, God does not need human
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directions. He does not need a human suggestions. He is not defined by human thought. He is not persuaded
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by human reason. He is not subject to human feelings. He is not malleable to human theology,
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and he is not formed by human ideology. God does not need us at all. God is self-defining. He is
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self-existent. He is self-sufficient. He is a jealous God, zealous for his own glory, concerned with his own
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honor, who graciously has woven a plan of redemption for sinful mankind by the way of his son, Jesus,
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who left his throne on high to live a life. He didn't have to live to die a death. He didn't
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deserve to die serving as the ultimate eternal sacrifice on our behalf, rising again, defeating
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death forever so that we enemies of God, children of wrath, sons and daughters of disobedience could
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be reconciled to this holy, perfect God. And by grace through faith can be called friends, can be called
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heirs, children of light and sons and daughters of the most high King. This is something that we can
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know, that we can bank on, the things that we find hope in, even in the darkest circumstances,
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that this is the message that we can shout from the rooftops. This is the God that we serve. And
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this God in all of his sovereignty and grace has done two things that are relevant to our conversation
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today. One, he has shown his power and his goodness through this tragic and seemingly hopeless
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story of Botham Jean's death in the trial of Amber Geiger. And two, he has done so by defining
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forgiveness and directing and empowering his disciples to do so, to forgive. And really it's
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the second that answers the how for the first. God has been glorified by the moving speech Botham
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Jean's brother gave and has even used a tool that is sometimes exclusively destructive, social
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media, to share his gospel. This kind of forgiveness that was demonstrated by Brandt is only possible
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through the work of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, though, there were some, even those who call
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themselves Christians, who were upset by this, who were upset by either the forgiveness itself
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or the reaction by some to the forgiveness itself. This is the title of an NBCnews.com article.
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Botham Jean's brother told Amber Geiger, I forgive you. It became a polarizing moment. Now,
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why would this be polarizing? Couldn't this be a time that we all come together, especially all those
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who bear the name of Christian and say, amen, thank God for transcending a racial division or what
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some are calling racial division. Praise God for transcending a moment that could have been marred by
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sadness and tragedy and bitterness and resentment forever. And none of us would have even thought
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twice about it. But God makes good things come out of devastating situations. And yet some don't see
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the hope in this situation. They don't see the situation quite that way. And Cornell William Brooks
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is a former president and CEO of the NAACP, also a pastor. He wrote this on Twitter. I have preached
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forgiveness for 25 years, but using the willingness of black people to forgive as an excuse to further
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victimize black people is simple. America should ask black people forgiveness for serially asking
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African-Americans to forgive sanctioned hashtag police brutality. Bernice King, the youngest daughter
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of Martin Luther King Jr. tweeted that racism and white supremacist ideology can't be hugged out.
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God bless Botham Jean's brother, but don't confuse his forgiveness with absolving this nation for its
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grows bitter discrimination against black people in a myriad of its systems and policies. There was an
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article in the Washington Post by Jamar Tisby titled White Christians do not cheapen the hug and message
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of forgiveness from Botham Jean's brother. Tisby says this in her article, although Christians of
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different backgrounds shared a variety of responses, this moment was especially celebrated, she says, by
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white Christians. It seems to indicate a desire to hastily move on from the wrong done and offer a perfect
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picture of reconciliation. She goes on to say a society built around white superiority is also
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built around white innocence, an assumption of intrinsic moral virtue of all white people and the
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purity of their intentions regardless of impact. White innocence assumes black forgiveness. No one
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should mistake black forgiveness for complacency with racial injustice. There were many other tweets
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and articles and viral posts authored by people of all races telling white people basically to stand
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down and that white people who are posting about the forgiveness aspect of this but not the trial
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itself are just perpetuating white supremacy and are being insensitive. The woke narrative was that
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a forgiveness has been a tool of white supremacists to justify perpetuating racism. Unfortunately, like I
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said, there are professed Christians who latched on to this kind of nonsensical reasoning. It is important to
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note also, just going back to that Washington Post article, that from a biblical perspective, there is
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no such thing as black forgiveness or white innocence. There is not collective forgiveness or innocence.
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That is not how the God of the Bible views things. That is Marxist terminology. That is not biblical
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terminology. First, let us note the accusation of all of these posts, the accusations that these critical
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posts are making surrounding this. The accusation is that the people, especially white Christians,
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posting about forgiveness are not and have not been concerned with injustice and oppression.
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And we have no idea if that assumption is true. Is there evidence of that? I mean, I remember when
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this happened. We were all stunned. All of my friends, everyone that I talked to, everyone that I
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interacted with on social media, everyone was stunned. I'm not speaking for every single person that
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exists. Maybe some people weren't, but I was stunned. The initial reaction was anger at the woman. That's
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the natural reaction. And I think probably the reaction that most people had, regardless of their
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race, how could she do this? How could you go into the wrong apartment and be so sure that you were in
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the right apartment that you would actually take out your gun and shoot someone? It's hard for me to
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comprehend how that could happen. That was just my initial thought. The immediate reaction that I had
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was a pit in my stomach for this man, for his family, for his co-workers, for his friends that now
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lost someone that they love. In that moment, I saw myself in him, not in her. I was 26. He was 26.
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We both had our whole lives in front of us. We probably, he probably had hopes and dreams and
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plans and wanted a family. I have my own hopes and dreams and plans. And he got everything pulled out
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from under him. He got all of that taken away from him by this tragic error in judgment. I saw myself
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in him, not in her. What we see is that the woke intersectional left assume that most people they
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don't know or most people they don't interact with on a daily basis are racist. For their worldview to
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work, they have to assume the worst of white people. And the fact is they are thinking about racism
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a lot more than most people are. A lot more than the people that they accuse of racism. Now, I'm not
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saying there are no racists. There are plenty of racists in this country, unfortunately. And I'm
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not saying that we don't have a history that includes oppression. Of course we do. I think
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we can acknowledge our flaws, our failures, our sins, and all of that, and still not make assumptions
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about people based on the color of their skin or based on their positive reaction to a story of
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redemption and forgiveness. But that, unfortunately, is what we have called many times on this podcast,
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the gospel of grievance. One that peddles resentment and peddles bitterness and in order to survive
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constantly has to think of people not just as other human beings, but as oppressors. And that is part of
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the negative reaction that we are seeing. Those who are complaining about the positive reaction to this
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act of forgiveness are the ones making this about oppression in general, not the people who are
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reacting positively. I haven't seen anyone say, maybe you have, I have not seen anyone say,
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see, this is how all black people should be. I haven't seen anyone say, see, why can't all black
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people just hug white women? I haven't seen anyone say that. If I did see someone say that, I would say
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you're stupid. I haven't seen anyone minimize real racism by praising the story. I haven't seen one person
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do that. I would be shocked if these people who are writing these articles and making these critical
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posts have. I haven't seen anyone use this, use forgiveness as an excuse to ignore injustice.
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Again, maybe some have. I haven't seen it. The only people who I've seen bring up this idea at all are
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the people who are telling other people to stop doing it. The reason Christians of all racists are
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rejoicing over this is because of the seriousness of the crime and the loss that was incurred.
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If we didn't think unjust killing was a big deal, we wouldn't think forgiveness was a big deal
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either. But because we understand the gravity of this situation and the absolute devastation felt by
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everyone who knew this man, we realize how powerful a story of forgiveness and redemption is.
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The fact of the matter is, the woke people who are saying this forgiveness is being so-called
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weaponized, would have probably, probably been happier if he had gotten up and told her to rot
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in hell. And honestly, if any of us had heard that, we wouldn't have thought too much of it. We would
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have said, you know what? He's angry. He's hurting. We understand why he's saying that. It's, we would
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have thought, you know what? That's justifiable in this moment. But how much better for those of us who
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are Christians, for those of us who have hope in Christ, for those of us who ascribe to a better
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way, for those of us who are called to be countercultural, who are citizens of heaven,
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how much better is it to see a moment of mercy? How humbled are we thinking about ourselves in
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that situation and wondering, honestly, if we would have the same reaction? I don't know. I can't speak.
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I can't speak that confidently about myself, even though I too am a Christian and I'm filled with the
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Holy Spirit because of that. I can't say that I wouldn't let my flesh get the better of me in that
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moment. But how awesome is it to remember that we are called as disciples of Christ to radical
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forgiveness that reflects what Christ did for us on the cross, that while we were yet sinners,
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Christ died for us. He didn't have to do that. We didn't deserve it. We weren't worthy of that,
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As God in Christ forgave us, that's a really big deal. That is radical, unthought of forgiveness.
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It was our sin who put Jesus on the cross. We rejected God. We spat on God. We blasphemed.
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We mocked him. We were his enemies. We were dead in our sin. And we are called to forgive others in
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the same way that a perfect, holy God forgave us. That is only possible through the Holy Spirit.
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That is only possible through supernatural power given to us by the God of the universe.
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Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?
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I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times. Other versions say 70 times seven. So in other words,
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forever. No, we don't demand forgiveness because mercy is undeserved, but we do give it even when
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it is hard. That is what Christians are called to do. That doesn't mean that we forget. That certainly
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doesn't mean that we overlook justice, not in the slightest or overlook injustice. You can forgive
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an abuser and still leave an abuser. You can forgive those who have wronged you while still
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understanding that the government has to fulfill its role as specified by the Bible to punish the
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evildoer. God is concerned with justice. He is concerned with the oppressed. He is concerned with
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truth. Godly justice, as defined by his word, shows no partiality to the poor or to the rich,
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to the white person or to the black person, but only defers to truth and to righteousness.
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I am so thankful that this young man answers to the Lord and not to the woke. I am so thankful for
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that, that he is freed from the bonds of resentment and the bonds of bitterness that not a single one of
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us would blame him for having. He doesn't need their approval. He doesn't need our approval. He
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certainly doesn't need my approval. He is a servant of God. He is submitting to God's word.
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This is something that Christians should be rejoicing over. There is no cause. There is no
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reason for division over this. Every Christian of every race should be able to look at this situation
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and say, thank God. Thank God that he transcends all of our arguments, that he transcends all of
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our differences, that the gospel can bring two people together that really share nothing in common
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except for this tragedy. And there can be forgiveness and mercy bestowed where it's not,
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um, where it's not deserved, which is of course the nature of mercy. All Christians should be rejoicing
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over this. And of course, if you actually see someone, um, using forgiveness in any way to perpetuate
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injustice, I don't even really know what that would look like, or to say that injustice doesn't exist
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or racism doesn't exist at all. Then sure, you can call them out specifically, but I don't think
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the assumptions that quote, white Christians are rejoicing over this as a way to pretend like
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injustice has never happened. I don't think that that's fair. I think that's a way to, uh, drum up
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more outrage rather than to see this for what it is, which is a gift of grace given to us by God. And
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you know, I'm thankful that despite all of the complaints that are happening, um, or despite this
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polarization that is needlessly happening surrounding this, that I know there is more
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than one person out there who was moved by his speech, that there is more than one person who
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maybe for the first time is considering the validity of the gospel, that there are people
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who have been changed by this, maybe have experienced for the first time, the kindness that leads to
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repentance. Unfortunately, those who are just sowing seeds of bitterness are doing nothing to
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help the situation and in fact are using this, uh, for selfish gain rather than to bring people
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to Christ. And so I pray that this speech, uh, continues to have an impact and continues to plant
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seeds and that the Holy Spirit continues to use him as a vessel and an ambassador for Christ. That is
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what we should all be hoping for. I am so thankful that God is not limited, uh, by the arguments that
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we seem to be having on a daily basis about things that in comparison to eternal glory, to eternal
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things don't matter quite as much. I wanted to talk about one other thing that kind of goes with
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this, but not really, you'll probably be able to see the connection, but it was this Instagram post.
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I got a lot of messages about something, um, that I said, pushing back on an Instagram post that people
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were sharing and it was a post saying that no matter what you're feeling, all your feelings are
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valid. It was saying you're not overreacting and you're not being too sensitive. Anything you feel
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right now, your feelings are valid. And I posted, well, that's silly. That's not true. There are plenty
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of feelings that aren't valid. Your feelings of jealousy are not valid. Your feelings of covetousness
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or envy are not valid. If you are filled with murderous rage, um, that is not valid. If you have
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abusive anger towards your spouse or your children, that is not valid, there are plenty of feelings
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that are not valid at all. There are some feelings that are, and some feelings that are not. There is
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a difference between real and valid. So the pushback that I got, uh, was from people saying that, well,
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it's important that even if feelings are bad, or even if feelings don't correspond with reality, that
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we need to validate them. I simply disagree with that. I don't believe that all feelings need to be
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validated because the feelings that don't correspond to reality or truth end up being very destructive.
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So it's possible for a feeling to be real. All feelings are real because you feel them. And so if
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they're inside of you, technically, at least in you, they are real, but that does not mean they are
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valid. Valid means true or legitimate. And if you feel jealousy towards someone because they have
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something that you don't, even though you should be grateful for what you have, that is not, uh,
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valid because it is not based on truth and it is not based on any kind of legitimacy. It is based
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on some kind of fear and security that you have. And I would think it would be important for a
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mental health professional, for a counselor, for a psychiatrist to help their client understand the
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difference between real feelings that you feel and valid feelings that are true. Now, some feelings
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can also be, can be valid and true. Like I already said, if you have, um, anger or fear towards an
00:26:13.440
abuser, for example, that is both a real and a valid fear. But if you have murderous rage towards
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the person that cuts you off, um, on the highway, that might be a real feeling, but that is not a
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valid feeling because it is disproportionate. It is not true. It is not a legitimate feeling that you
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have. And that feeling should be managed. And that feeling should not be given into. It should
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actually be a trained or reared in a different direction or should be shut down altogether.
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We live in this crazy world that, uh, tells us that whatever is inside you, everything that is a
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part of you is important. It needs to be listened to. It needs to be followed. That's just not true.
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The Bible says that the heart is fickle. It is desperately wicked. Who can understand it? So we are
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not to follow our heart. We are not to give credence to all of our feelings. We are supposed to weigh
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our feelings, uh, against the word of God and say, okay, what is actually true? And if we are feeling
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something that is not based on truth, then we need to say, well, I'm going to push that feeling off to
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the side and I'm going to submit my whole self emotions, my mind, my spirit to Jesus Christ,
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because we are called to obedience, not to bow down to our feelings. If you continue to bow down to your
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feelings, you are going to be led to a place of perpetual anxiety and fear. And, uh, you are going
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to feel burdened, uh, with the weight of all of your emotions. Not a single one of us can handle
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that. That is why Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. The yoke that our
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emotions places on a place on us, uh, the burden that our emotions place on us is not easy and it's
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not light. It is extremely heavy and it is extremely difficult. So no, do not give into all of your
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feelings, do not validate all of your feelings. They will very often lead you astray. We are
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called to submit all of these things to Christ and we are called to be a discerning with all of
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these things. Okay. I just wanted to clear that up. Maybe I'll do a whole episode on that. If that's
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something that you're interested in, we can do a whole episode on feelings, on emotions and things
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like that. But I think it was important to kind of, uh, talk a little bit further about that since I got
00:28:26.740
so many messages and even emails about it, subscribe to YouTube. If you haven't already, I would love if
00:28:34.580
you did that, leave a five-star review if you so desire. And if you like this podcast, feel free to
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send me a message on Instagram. If you have anything to say for better, for worse, I hope that you guys
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have a great rest of your Monday and I will see you back here on Wednesday.