Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow / Livestream
Dr. Noe Garcia lathered the Monday Chapel audience, from declaring the Worship team as the best band in the country, to hoping that all four of his children attend Grand Canyon University, to joking about his 6-year-old son questioning his ability as a pastor at North Phoenix Church.
“That’s not very Christian of you,” Garcia recalls being told by his son after forbidding him from eating candy or taking away his Xbox privileges.
The students laughed for several seconds and resumed their chuckles after Garcia shared a story in which his son came out of his room after 10 minutes to ask a few questions.
“Aren’t you a pastor? … Aren’t pastors supposed to forgive?” Garcia was asked before answering affirmatively.
“You must not be a very good pastor,” his son replied before retreating to his room.
Garcia admitted the concept of forgiveness for a 6-year-old is virtually impossible. But in Scripture, the word “forgiven” is repeated frequently.
“Forgiveness is so easy to preach,” Garcia said. “It’s incredibly hard to apply.”
Garcia used his own experiences to illustrate this. He was abused as a youth and once contemplated suicide before surrendering to God at age 18.
“The deeper someone has cut you, the deeper somebody has hurt you, the much more difficulty of forgiveness there is to apply to that person,” Garcia said.
“ … I love being around people. I’m very transparent. I’m very vulnerable but cut very easily and heal very slowly.”
The amount of abuse Garcia suffered as a youth taught him that when someone hurts him, to disregard them – mentally, spiritually and physically – to the point of unfriending them forever, moving forward and never trusting them.
But what Garcia realized later was that he was a “prisoner” to the sin of unforgiveness.
Instead of forgiving them, negative emotions would surface when their names or faces would come up.
“I couldn’t comprehend how quickly I was supposed to forgive this person because there was this sense of injustice to what they have done for me,” Garcia said. “If I’m being honest, I wanted them just to pay for it.”
As deep as the pain feels, Jesus has the command to forgive through the spirit. Garcia refers to Matthew 6:9-15, in which Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray.
The opening words of The Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” has special significance.
“Don’t start with the sin,” Garcia said. “Start with the Savior. Because when you start with your Savior, it will change the way you look at your own sin. But if you look at your sin, you try to go to the Savior, it will disrupt and distort how you view Him.”
The repetition of the word “forgiven” is used to “mentally, spiritually and emotionally” release someone of a wrongdoing they have committed, Garcia adds.
Garcia admitted he struggled with forgiving the people who abused him until recently, when it became apparent that he realized he was not truly free.
“That God was searching my heart and trying to bring freedom into my life, and the only way I could have whole freedom was by forgiving those who hurt me,” Garcia said.
“The reason why Jesus wants us to forgive is because forgiveness is all about freedom. When Christ forgave us, we were free. And when we forgive others, we became free.”
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In Chapel news:
University Pastor Dr. Tim Griffin announced that a Passages trip to Washington, D.C., for students is coming up Jan. 2-5 for $250.
The trip will include a visit to Museum of the Bible.
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Next Monday’s Chapel: Dave Donaldson of Canyon Hills Church, co-founder of CityServe. The Missions Fair will be held after Monday Chapel on the Promenade.
GCU News Senior Writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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