The CCO vs The Merciful God

The Chief Compliance Officer is the person who makes sure a company is obeying state and federal regulations and internal policies and procedures. CCOs are a necessary part of modern corporate America and ever increasing layers of regulation and litigation. The CCO knows the rule book cover to cover and is responsible for training employees to comply with the rules.

Does the church need CCOs? In Bible-speak, a CCO is a Pharisee.

Pharisees believe in obedience to the letter of the law. Compliance.

One of my top 10 favorite verses:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8

Do justice. To who? Jesus lives this verse. Do justice to the poor, the lame, the sick. Do justice to those the Pharisees excluded: whores, lepers, tax collectors, the demon possessed. Do justice on the the Sabbath. Do justice to the woman at the well, the bleeding woman, the dead girl, the adulteress.

What do all these people have in common? They are the weak. The victims. The abused. They didn't earn Jesus' mercy by obedience, but they received it by His Grace. It is absurd to believe Jesus would ever side with the abuser for the sake of keeping the law. It is beyond absurd to believe God would condemn an abused woman for divorcing her abuser.

The church does not need CCOs. It needs Jesus.

And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. Matthew 12:7