Suck it up

So, I received a pointed email yesterday that said I was being irresponsible on my blog - "not enough talk about sin and God's expectations." Apparently, I am letting people suck on the pacifier of grace too long.

While feedback is always welcome, and I gave the comments considerable thought, this is my blog so defending my perspective seems, well, allowed. So, here's how I see it:

Even as Christians, we do not have a deep understanding of grace. We talk about it. Boy, do we sing about it (and get teary-eyed while doing so). But living in it is a whole different deal. I preached a sermon a couple of years ago entitled, "Livin' Forgiven" (catchy, huh?) and I was not surprised by the number of people that the message resonated with. We have a lot of difficulty giving and receiving grace, like we do not really believe it's true.

The evangelical pendulum has swung so far into recognizing sin and teaching behavior modification, that others who belong to differing sub-cultures (you know, the ones that think grace is the prayer you say at the dinner table) have no idea what grace means either. If Christians (those who confess Christ) aren't sucking on it, then how will anyone have a taste of it?

GRACE is the unmerited favor of God. He offers it. I cannot earn it with good behavior or trying harder. It is offered to me in my sin and it is offered to me when I refuse to receive it. It is offered to me in the midst of both good and bad behavior. Frankly, it's what allowed me to wake up and take another breath today. It is even offered to me when I am wrong on my blog (which, although hard to believe, will probably be a frequent occurrence).

You know the phrase, "You are what you eat?" See, here's the thing about sucking on grace. What I take in is what will come out. The inner transformation that results in changed behaviors - genuine love, mutual kindness, caring for the things God cares about, holiness - is a response to grace. The two are not separate experiences or stand alones. Do not hear me denying the reality of sin, but what I have discovered over and over and over is that people have a far keener understanding of sin than we think. You need only glance at the state of the world to know something is very wrong. "Enough already, I get it. What the heck is the remedy?"

Perhaps if we received grace we would give grace. If people tasted grace when they were around us, would they feel less motivated to defend their bad choices and be more open to Truth? And you know, it really isn't us and them. It's just us.

And who knows? If we all start sucking on a little grace, our mouths would be full, which would hinder our ability to TALK. We'd have to stop singing the remedy and actually live it.