Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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On Grace and Mercy Combined

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Grace and MercyI read the following paragraph in Learning Evangelism from Jesus by Jerram Barrs and thought I would share it with you:

“But Jesus was a different kind of holy man and teacher. We have already seen that Jesus did not seek to keep apart from sinners. He also did not turn sinners away. Jesus did not abuse sinners, single them out for condemnation, or avoid them. Rather, he was a teacher who spoke words of comfort and grace to them, a teacher who showed them such respect, honor, and love that many of them responded by happily turning away from their sin. This, of course, was what happened in the life of Zacchaeus. Grace and mercy are far more effective means of creating love and devotion than condemnation. A new affection for Christ has a much greater power to drive out sin and bring lasting repentance than any sermon on moral improvement, or any program for straightening out one’s life.”

The problem with this is that to follow in Jesus’ footsteps in this regard will get a little messy. The lines of demarcation will get a little blurred. People might criticize us for associating with the wrong kind of people.

But messy and blurred are poor excuses for doing what we are called to do. Yes, it is uncomfortable to interact with people that are different from us. But that is what we are called to do.

Perhaps one of the reasons we shy away from interacting with “sinners” is because they remind us of our own failures. In reality we are all sinners, but some of us are better at hiding it than others. We are all just one poor choice away from a moral train wreck.

If we are honest, the fact that we are not moral train wrecks has more to do with God’s grace than our ability (Tweet this) to live out the Christian life. So why not extend that same grace to others?

Grace combined with even a modicum of mercy will have a powerful effect.

What if we followed Jesus’ example?

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ExampleIn reading through the Gospels, I am reminded that it is possible to take a strong stand against sin while honoring and loving those who participate in it. A paragraph that I read in Learning Evangelism from Jesus captures this thought well:

“But Jesus was a different kind of holy man and teacher. We have already seen that Jesus did not seek to keep apart from sinners. He also did not turn sinners away. Jesus did not abuse sinners, single them out for condemnation, or avoid them. Rather, he was a teacher who spoke words of comfort and grace to them, a teacher who showed them such respect, honor and love that many of them responded by happily turning away from their sin. This, of course, was what happened in the life of Zacchaeus. Grace and mercy are a far more effective means of creating love and devotion than condemnation. A new affection for Christ has a much greater power to drive out sin and bring lasting repentance than any sermon on moral improvement, or any program for straightening out one’s life.”

What would our world look like if the whole Church followed Jesus’ example in this?

What would the world around me look like if I followed Jesus’ example in this?

Ashley Madison and Matthew 5

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Pick up the first stoneThere have been many articles responding to the release of names associated with the Ashley Madison web site, a site where prospective adulterers could find connection.

Some have expressed surprise and dismay that Christian leaders have been found to have their names on the list. But I don’t think that we should be surprised. The church is not filled with people who have it all together. We know this because they let us in and we do not have it all together. Whether our failures are obvious to others or not, we all fail.

So let’s put down the stones before someone gets hurt. There is not a person alive that has not had his or her mind taken to places that it should not go. As Christians, we have to learn to “take every thought captive” and redirect the trajectory of our thoughts.

Why is this important? In Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus tells us that adultery starts long before any physical activity takes place. Adultery takes place first and foremost in the mind. Adultery begins with lust and lust is the real problem.

Rather than our condemnation, we should offer to those on the list our sympathy and prayers. Certainly, they were wrong to flirt with or commit physical adultery. But every human has crossed into territory that he or she should not go whether the thought was acted upon or not. Knowing our own hearts, and how easily our minds can be driven off course, we should have some understanding of how those on the list got there.

The problem is essentially one of idolatry. Lust takes place when we seek something that provides a distraction or what we think will be lasting satisfaction. Lust is essentially trying to meet a legitimate need by illegitimate means. Any desire for sexual fulfillment that is contrary to the prescription of Scripture is harmful and wrong.

Rather than worship God through the legitimate means of meeting a need, we worship a false god when we turn to the illegitimate. That false god can be a person or an experience.

Now that it is all in the open, the illegitimate desires can be addressed and help can be sought. Let us as a group of believers skip the condemnation and offer the needed help. A few thoughts come to mind:

  • We can create an environment where it is OK to be not OK. In other words, we need to develop church cultures where brokenness and failure can be admitted without shunning or other ostensibly anti-Christian behavior.
  • We can more accurately teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some well-meaning Christians acknowledge that salvation cannot be earned and they try to earn it anyway. They then turn around and teach others to do so. When we understand the Gospel, then we can let ourselves and others be where we currently are, knowing that God is in the process of making us better.
  • We can do a better job of understanding how the Gospel speaks to the issues in the culture around us. Scripture speaks to our motivations and our need for transformation.

When Hootie and the Blowfish agree with Jesus on something (John 8:7) then we should pay attention.

You without sin, pick up that stone

Intentional about Grace

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IntentionalRecently I had a dialog with a pastor friend about the tendency for churches to have correct teaching about grace and have their practice of it break down. My friend made the observation that “works-righteousness is the default mode of the human heart.” After observing myself and others, I am forced to agree with him.

The Church of Jesus Christ should be the most gracious place on the planet but often it is not. If we are not consistently preaching the Gospel, if we are not reinforcing our need for a savior, if we are not intentional about living under grace, then we will become what the world thinks we are.

A definition of the Gospel, which I got from Tim Keller, is this (this may not be a word for word quote, but it is how I remember it):

We are more deeply flawed than we ever dared imagine,
But we are more deeply loved than we ever dared believe

If visitors to your church do not come away with the impression that you believe this, then you have missed an opportunity to present the true Gospel to people who desperately need to hear it. All of us need to hear this message reinforced on a regular basis.

Failure to believe the first part of Keller’s definition leads to spiritual pride and a false sense of superiority. Failure to believe the second part leads to despair and the feeling that I will never measure up.

The point is that we don’t need to measure up. 2 Cor. 5:21 tells us that Jesus did the “measuring up” for us. So why do we try so hard to do so? Jesus loved us, the entire God-head loved us, before we were even born and despite the mess we’ve made.

I need to acknowledge that my heart rebels against the first part of Mr. Keller’s statement. I don’t want to admit that I am flawed beyond self-repair. My pride wants to think that I am better than I am and I am less in need of grace than I really am. I want to appear to others better than I really am.

This is why we need to be intentional about preaching the core of the gospel and we need to be intentional about demonstrating grace. If we are not intentional about it, works-righteousness will cause us to veer off course and before we know it we will have a Pharisaic congregation who despises the tax collectors and sinners. Rather than a loving one which embraces those who are willing to admit their need for a savior.

The question is, “How is it that we can sing about grace and look down on our brother?”

We need to be honest in answering this question. Because if we are not honest, the world will continue to think we are judgmental and pompous, only because we are.

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