On June 12, the Christian Legal Society hosted Senoir Judge Eric Bruggink. Since 1986, Judge Bruggink has served on the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Judge Bruggink's presentation was designed for Lawyers. He spoke about how lawyers, because of the nature of their job, must wear two hats: the hat of faith and the hat of the law. This balancing act puts them in “faith predicaments” all the time.
His principle text came from Romans 1:17, “The Just shall live by faith.” He said that there are two consequences when lawyers let their faith get out of balance. The first is this: they begin to observe the law more than the dictates of God. Sometimes the reason of the world (i.e. legal process) places limitations on the applicability of their morality. But they must live with a certain amount of reckless abandon because there are things in life worth the accompanying scorn.
The second consequence of living by sight and not by faith was this: a lawyer begins to think that they have rights, which is a by-product of their constant exposure to legal rights. Judge Bruggink quoted Oswald Chambers concerning rights, “Whenever rights are made the guidance in life they will blunt spiritual insight.” He said that in God’s system we don’t have democratic rights. To demonstrate this point he referenced the parable of Jesus in Matthew 20:1-16. At the end of the day, the master of the vineyard paid all the laborers equally, whether they had worked one hour or 12 hours. This incited malcontent from the day-long laborers, but the master responded, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” And so we learn, as possessions of God, that He can do what he wants with us.
I enjoyed Judge Bruggink very much because, as a senior in college, I am thinking about law school. He told me, after his presentation, to come see him if I ever needed some guidance about law school. What a generous man!
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