Perfection

I'm reading a great book right now by Jim Belcher called "In Search of Deep Faith" (full review coming later). Using a combination of history and travel, Belcher uncovers some unique insights into the Christian faith and practice. One of those has to do with grace.

We Methodists love to talk about grace. We believe it, we sing about it, and we are thankful that we are saved by grace and not by works. And that's a wonderful truth. But yet, we live as if others are saved by works. As people of grace, why are we so judgmental? Belcher (not a Methodist) contends that Christians in general are that way because we're, in his words, "married to the law." We're stuck in what is essentially an Old Testament mindset, judging others and refusing to extend to them the same grace we have been given.

Philip Yancey made the same observation in his book of several years ago, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" The church, he observed, is often a place of un-grace (his word), a place where people experience everything except the grace that they so desperately need. People who have come to depend on grace have difficulty extending it. Why is that?

Perhaps it's because we don't really trust God. At about the same time I was thinking about all of this, I listened to a sermon by Tim Tennent, president of Asbury Seminary. I believe it was his "start of the year" Presidential Address for this past fall, and as he recounted the story of Francis Asbury (the first Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America) and other founders of American Methodism, as he told the stories of the founders of the seminary, he noted that many times, they failed. They got in arguments with other Christian leaders. They had contentions and distress. And yet, as he pointed out, we don't remember those. Those things probably seemed to be important disagreements at the time, but history has instead remembered the great missionary zeal of Asbury, the transformation the early Methodist circuit riders made of the American frontier.

Tennent went on to tie that into the way we usually look at "proper Christian behavior" (he uses the word "ethos") and how we get so tied up in the minutiae of "rules." Then he said this (I'm paraphrasing): "If we just set our sights on following the triune God, we wouldn't need an ethos statement." Another way I might say that is this: if we really embraced the grace of God—for us and for others—we wouldn't waste our time judging others. We'd instead spend our time trying to reach others for Jesus Christ. If we really trusted God, we just might see the biggest missionary push this world has ever seen. We'd stop worrying about what someone else is doing. Instead, we'd follow Jesus and point others toward him.

Isn't that the story of John 21? The disciples are fishing when Jesus appears in his resurrection body on the shore. Peter jumps out of the boat and swims to see his friend, and then they take a walk on the beach. John follows them at a distance, and Peter notices it. He doesn't like it, so he points John out to Jesus. "What are you going to do about him, Jesus? He's following us!" And Jesus, stern but gentle, says, "You stop worrying about what he's doing, Peter. You follow me." I think that's the same thing Jesus is saying to us today.

I'm not contending for a mushy grace, where every behavior is acceptable. That's not the Biblical story. There are behaviors and actions that are right and others that offend God and are wrong. But Jesus points us toward a faith that offers the same grace we have received to others, and trusting God to take care of the details. Belcher puts it this way: divorce the law. Give up on perfection in others. Instead, embrace and offer grace.

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