‘Juror #6, Emily Johnson. Yes. Juror #5, Michael Smith…’ Phew. After three hours in our local courthouse, I was just thirty seconds – and four jurors – from being home free.
In 26 years of eligibility, I had never actually been tapped to serve. With just four jurors left, it looked like my good fortune was about to continue.
‘Juror #4, Bryan Stoudt…’ Shoot. Seriously?! Let’s just say I’m not going to base any devotionals off of my initial reaction.
Moments later, the other potential jurors scattered like birds, exiting the courtroom with ‘I just won the lottery’ looks on their faces. Not me. I was now simply ‘Juror #4’, and the judge informed us that our trial was going to consume the next three days of our lives.
Jury Duty – The ‘Privilege’ No One Wants
Ah, jury duty. The privilege none of us want. It threatens to take us away from our ‘normal lives’, replacing them with mind-numbing monotony that only a professional ceiling-tile counter could love. But sooner or later, most of us are going to wind up serving whether we like it or not.
Most of you – like me – probably fall into that ‘not’ category. But I know you guys well enough to know that, even though something like jury duty can be frustrating, you want to honor God in it. You want to ‘do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him’. (Colossians 3:17)
Here are seven lessons I learned, shared in the hope that they may help you not waste your own jury duty the next time your name is called.
7 Ways To Not Waste Your Jury Duty
Evil is real, and a waste of time and resources.
Without question, our judicial system is absolutely necessary in our broken, fallen world. God calls us to ‘give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’ (Psalm 82:3-4)
Sadly, the case I heard was essentially a money grab on the part of the plaintiff. Yet over 15 people spent countless hours listening to a case with little to no merit. While we all know that evil is real in theory, it hits home with more force when it touches us a personal level.
The benefits of citizenship come with actual obligations – and power.
Since the time of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, we’ve said that our government is ‘by the people, for the people’. Jury duty is one tangible way we play a real part in shaping our nation as we ‘open [our] mouth[s], judge righteously,’ and ‘defend the rights of the poor and needy.’ (Proverbs 31:9.) It’s an amazing thing that a group of normal people can come together and decide the earthly fate of our fellow citizens. The small sacrifice jury duty required exposed my entitlement mentality and absence of wonder for the privilege of serving. If we reflect, I suspect that attitude is present in other areas of our lives, too.
We’re not in control of our lives.
We like to think we’re in charge, but jury duty reminds us that we’re really not. The only choices are report for duty, or, be held in contempt of court. Once our trial began, we continued facing reminders that we were not the ones in charge. In reality, though, we’re never in charge, as James reminds us. ‘You do not know what tomorrow will bring… Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ‘ (James 4:14-15)
God is sovereignly in charge, even when we don’t like how things are going.
It’s easy to say, ‘God is in control’… until things don’t go the way we want them to. Like having someone else tell you how you’re going to spend the next three days of your life. Without warning. This is when we figure out our functional theology – what we really believe. Jury duty reminded me that I still often question God’s sovereignty in my daily life. But God says that he ‘is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.’ (Psalm 115:3) When God puts us in boring, undesirable situations, he’s giving us another opportunity to trust him.
The opportunity to shine for Christ.
Pretty early on in our tour of duty, God reminded me that he had placed me there on purpose. To serve him, and to shine for him, however dimly (Matthew 5:14-16). As we shared about our work, my ministry to healthcare students and professionals gave me a chance to identify with Christ. Without being pushy, my prayer became, ‘God, please change people’s ideas about who Christians are through me, and help us make the right decision.’
As the trial wore on, we were all seriously tempted to complain. I tried to be honest about my own struggles with the inconvenience, yet serve ‘without grumbling’ (Philippians 2:14) as a small picture of the difference Christ can make.
Renewed gratitude for our justice system and my everyday work.
I know that there is still a ton of injustice in our country. And that my status as a white male makes it easier to be thankful for our justice system, which at times is failing others deeply. That said, we’re faring much better than many other countries where corruption is much more prevalent. It’s only because of God’s amazing, common grace that things work as well as they do. (Matthew 5:45)
And although I have days where I’m not (nearly) as grateful for my ‘normal life’ as I ought to be, jury duty made me realize just how thankful I should be. Most days I love my work. Although many of you may (understandably) wonder about your own labor at times, I’m going to guess it beats the tedium of jury duty.
True, complete justice will be done when Christ returns.
I’m not sure whether justice was served in our trial because I was excused a day early. (We had a big ministry event to prepare for, and the judge had mercy on me!) But when Christ returns, everything will finally be made right, without exception. God ‘has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.’ (Acts 17:31) We do our best while we serve on earthly juries, but we rest in knowing that One Day a far better Judge will conduct a far better trial. Though we all deserve to be declared guilty, how amazing to be declared not only innocent – but righteous – on the basis of what Jesus did in our place. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Jury Duty: A Hidden Opportunity
In conclusion, at some point most of us are going to serve on jury duty. While it’s tempting to just slog through it, remembering that God has placed us there gives us great opportunities to serve, and fresh insights both on our present life and the greater Life to come.
Questions for reflection:
- Have you ever served on jury duty? If yes, how did you do in terms of serving in a Christ-honoring way?
- As you think about the next (or first) time you serve, what truths would most help you love God and represent him well to others?