Brandt Jean's act of forgiveness is difficult to comprehend for a lot of people. I imagine it's much harder for those who lack faith in Christ. Reading comments on social media confirms this.
But Mr. Jean's courageous and Christian act - just as the families of the Charleston church shooting did for the racist - force all who see it to think about how we would react. What would we do? Because if Mr. Jean can do this, it means we all can, too. This level of kindness, faith, and forgiveness is attainable for us all.
Which is why many will recoil at its beauty. It compels self-examination.
It also raises the image of what a society could look like if we all could live a faith like Mr. Jean.
To paraphrase Jordan Peterson, if one were to create a philosophical and moral system - stripped of any sort of miracles or supernatural components - wouldn't it look like this? Wouldn't the tenets of Christianity make our society better?