The Be Broken Blog

In recent months we have heard presidential candidates declare with passion that, if elected, they would usher in change to our economy, our international diplomacy, and our general welfare. This message sounds hopeful and inspiring, but I have found myself asking one question each time the dust settled from these rousing speeches about change, “Is all change good?”

As I have mentioned before in previous blog posting, life is in constant motion. Therefore, change is certainly a fundamental reality of life. But I’m struck with the truth that not all change is good. To make the target of your life’s direction “change” is short-sighted and foolish. Change is simply a vehicle through which other realities of life travel. Change is not a destination, nor should it even be a goal, for not all change produces positive results.

I don’t have to go any further than my own history to see that not all change is good. There was a time in my life when I believed I was entitled to happiness (by the way, this is a false assumption, so let me save you a lot of heartache and exhort you not to buy into it). In my entitled mind, I believed life should give me what I wanted so that happiness would be achieved. But I kept running up against obstacles that introduced me to a reality that life doesn’t work that way. Yet, in order for me to keep chasing the fantasy of entitled happiness, I began to make some changes.

Since happiness (aka: irresponsible self-seeking) was my paradigm, I placed myself and all my desires as supreme. Therefore, I changed how I related to other people. I changed how I made decisions regarding finances and work. I changed how I interpreted God’s standards for purity and service. I changed. And it most definitely wasn’t good.

Does this mean that all change is bad? Certainly not! My life experience has also shown many good changes, namely those in which I embrace the truth of God’s Word and live out of a faith paradigm, not a self-centered one. Sowing those changes into my life brings a rich harvest of joy, peace, and purpose. 

What we must remember about change is that it is simply a channel. Change is movement, but not the substance of life. And this is key to understanding how to approach change. Rather than seeing change as a destination or goal, let us instead see it for what it truly is, an avenue through which we travel to reach a particular destination or goal. So, the real focus of what we are aiming for needs to be the goal, the destination, the real substance of life.

As you move into the days ahead, where is your life aimed? Is it pointed at the ambiguous, ever-moving vehicle of change? Or is it pointed at the unchanging, unwavering person of Jesus? I would encourage you to aim your life at Jesus, because with Him as your focal point you will become unflappable in the sometimes overwhelming crosswinds of change.

Changing for the good,

jonathan

I can already hear the gasps among my fundamentalist friends as they read the title to this article. But don’t worry, my dear friends, I haven’t jumped ship on evangelicalism and adopted a “we’re all going to heaven” theology. No, I still believe the truth that there is only one way to eternal life and that way is by faith alone in Christ alone. So, this article is more about the exercise of faith in general than it is about faith in God (although general “faith” is ultimately meant to lead us to our Creator).

We see a growing number of people around the civilized world, but especially in Europe and America, suggesting rather strongly that, as Nietzsche put it, “God is dead.” And because God is dead, therefore faith is irrelevant and has no place in even our discussions in life. But what I find utterly fascinating about this sort of “unreasonable” reason is that it just simply isn’t possible. Faith is part of everyone’s life, whether they believe in God or not. And it is this truth that I believe stirs the ire in those who seek to eliminate God from public discourse.

Everyone exercises faith. Everyone. No one can live, work, move or relate without faith. Faith is a fundamental characteristic of humanity. Every time you sit in a chair, start your car, submit to medical advice, or work for someone who promises wages, you are exercising faith, a trust that something or someone outside your control will accomplish what you expect or hope. There is no such thing as a faithless person, as it pertains to the general definition of faith. So faith is a regular experience of every human being. This really frustrates those who seek to find a way to live life by reason alone.

Faith implies need. Actually, faith demands it. Because faith is about trusting something or someone outside yourself, it assumes you lack the capacity to do life well on your own. And the truth is that we all lack such capacity. The smartest, the wealthiest, the strongest, even the bravest all have needs that go beyond their own ability to meet. This is true from the time you are born until the day you die. And until a person embraces the fact that they will never be able to achieve true greatness and satisfaction in life apart from help, they will continue to live frustrated, lonely lives.

Faith also requires surrender. Once a person acknowledges their need, in order to exercise faith they must then surrender to the object or person in whom they are placing their faith. Faith and pride cannot co-exist. This, I believe, is the fatal stumbling block for those who seek to portray faith as useless and unnecessary. It makes their argument terribly inconsistent and fallible. On the one hand they argue that they have what it takes within themselves and their reasoning capabilities to conquer life, yet simultaneously must regularly place themselves in submission to those objects they are trusting in (i.e. money, power, position, image). It becomes sadly comical to see someone attempt to deny faith’s reality when bowing at the altar of materialism, humanism, or lust.

Since faith is universal to humanity, why then is it so difficult for people to trust in Christ? God Himself wired us to operate under the principle of faith, continually coming against circumstances in life that declare our need for Someone greater than ourselves to lead us through the challenges. And yet, “[humanity] preferred darkness over the light.” The usual suspects for preventing us from living by faith in Christ are pride, lust, greed, and ignorance. We need to recognize these obstacles and surrender each moment to the One who is able to meet all our needs and fulfill our greatest desires.

As you live your life each day, take the time to look around at all the people exercising their faith in worthless, powerless idols, and ask God for opportunities and the courage to invite them to direct their faith onto Christ. It’s not that they don’t know how to live by faith. It’s just that their faith hasn’t been directed onto Christ, the only One who really knows how to conquer life…perfectly.

Exercising faith,

jonathan

One night at dinner, during the normal noisiness of everyone eating and talking and laughing, Megan (my  youngest) was in especially fine form. She was talking silly and just making everyone laugh with her antics. In the middle of our fun, as I was laughing, I blurted out sarcastically with rolled eyes, “What color is the sky in your world, Megan?” Without missing a beat, she replied with an immediate seriousness, “Yellow.”

I have to admit I was stunned with her quick response, not expecting her to answer the question at all and especially not with such an unusual reply. Well, you can imagine the laughter that ensued after she frankly revealed the apparently very real “color” of the sky in her “world.” It was a good family memory and left us all with sore abs and wet eyes from laughing so hard.

But as is always the case in these moments in my life with my kids, somehow a nugget of deeper truth lodged itself into my mind. In this case, I got to thinking about this “world” of Megan’s that seemed so vivid and real in her mind, but appeared nothing like the world in which we live (in case you were wondering, the sky is primarily blue in our world; although, it can have shades of yellow at sunrise and sunset). As I pondered this alternate world of hers, I was reminded that God has said that as His child I am an alien and stranger on this planet. My true home is a place outside the dimensions of reality I can sense in this body, a home in the “heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

What would I say if someone came up to me and asked, whether jokingly or seriously, “What color is the sky in your world?” Would I even recognize the difference between what I can only see, touch, or taste and the “real world” of my spiritual home as one bought by the blood of Jesus and sealed by the Spirit of God for an eternity with Him?

You see, God’s view of life, galaxies, “worlds” if you will, is not confined to our limited dimensions of experience. He is both outside and throughout time and space. When He says that I am “seated in the heavenlies” as a child of His, this is a reality that I cannot fully comprehend right now, but it is true nonetheless. And it is that reality of such a spiritual dimension in Christ that I must embrace and allow to shape and direct my life if I am to truly live as God intended.

Too many believers pass through life without regard to their true home, their real world in Christ. And with such a limited perspective, they miss the great abundant life Jesus said He came to bring. Such abundant life is only realized when the believer lives from the paradigm of the new creation God made him to be by faith in Christ. From such a new, radical vantage point, the believer sees even life in this world from a whole new perspective. No longer is life about the body or food or wealth or fame or any other material need or want. Life becomes beautifully colored by the brilliance, grace, and truth of God’s eternal love and purpose for us, His prized creation.

And then you see it, but only when you look up: the sky! The majestic, breathtaking expanse of something so amazing, so unbelievable, you have to pinch yourself to see if you are dreaming (only to realize that your senses don’t quite respond the same in the spiritual realm). You see, the “sky” in God’s world is Himself. He is brilliant, blinding light, so captivating you can’t help but long to gaze upon His glory forever. And that suits Him just fine. After all, that’s what you were made for…

Looking up,

jonathan

Marriage is hard work. Don’t let anyone deceive you into thinking that marriage is all about feelings, romance, and endless smiles. While a relationship often begins with such superficial components, marriage is much deeper. Marriage is a covenant.

What is a covenant? Many think of a covenant in the same way they think of a contract, which isn’t entirely incorrect. But in today’s marketplace, contracts have come to symbolize nothing more than pieces of paper that can be altered, manipulated, or broken with little or no consequence. This is not the idea behind the definition of a covenant. A covenant is a solemn promise between individuals to commit irrevocably to the demands of the agreement. It is unalterable and affords consequences on the party who may choose to break the covenant.

God was the original covenant maker. God chose Abraham to be “the father of many nations.” But there was a slight problem with this plan. Abraham had no children and he and his wife, Sarah, were getting up in years (way up). But still God promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. God made the promise, the covenant with Abraham. And God fulfilled His promise. At the age of ninety, Sarah gave birth to the promised son, Isaac, and the rest, as they say, is history.

What does this have to do with marriage? It has to do with marriage being a covenant, a promise to fulfill vows regardless of how impossible the circumstances surrounding the relationship may appear. It is a promise to love and to cherish, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, ’til death do us part. That is the covenant, not a cheap contract to be altered, manipulated, or broken. We need to recapture the essence of permanency that is woven throughout God’s institution of covenant marriage.

If marriage is meant to be permanent, how is one to deal with all those who have broken this sacred covenant through divorce? The same way God does: grace. Every person who has ever experienced the breaking of their marriage covenant through divorce has suffered consequences. These consequences vary from marriage to marriage, but they almost always involve emotional, mental, and spiritual scars. No one can break a promise without facing consequences. No one. My heart breaks for those who have faced such pain. But hope is not lost, for God is faithful to keep His promises in spite of our faithlessness.

Abraham wasn’t a perfect man. He laughed at God’s promise to provide a son for such an old man. Sarah even stepped in to “help out” in the matter by offering her maid servant to Abraham to conceive. Sarah’s maid did have a child by Abraham, which has been the source of all kinds of conflicts and consequences for generations - even to this day. But even in Abraham’s goof up, God remained faithful to His promise. God extended grace to Abraham, and He extends that same grace today to those who have broken their marriage promise, no matter what the reason.

Is your marriage in a difficult spot? Don’t entertain thoughts that want to lead you away from the covenant promises you vowed to your spouse. Whatever your failures, whatever your faults, whatever their failures or faults, God is able to empower you to start fresh and press into your marriage and be faithful to your spouse. God will never lead a couple to divorce, for that would be inconsistent with His nature as a covenant keeper. But God will convict, challenge, and heal, even the marriage that seems impossibly beyond hope. Remember, our God is the God of the impossible!

Have you broken your marriage promise through divorce? Embrace the limitless grace of God, the grace that lifts you up in the pain of your consequences and gives you opportunity to press on. Don’t allow the shame of your circumstances to prevent you from seeking God’s face and starting anew in your dependence upon Him. Renew your commitment to walk in step with the great Covenant Keeper, not allowing yourself to enter into promises you don’t intend to keep. God is not angry with you, but He does want to heal your heart and renew your hope.

Is the hard work of marriage worth it? If you embrace the attitude of a covenant keeper, then it can be a joy to work hard, knowing that the endurance you develop will reap a harvest of righteousness and peace that will last forever. If, however, you adopt an attitude that always sees your marriage with a “back door” through which you could escape if the challenges are too great, then you will continue to suffer discontent and anxiety, ever tempted to entertain thoughts that someone better might be around the next corner.

Covenant marriage removes all other options off the table, ironically making it much simpler to make decisions about how you will face the difficult challenges of your relationship. Without a “back door” you realize you must stand in, seek God’s help, and keep your promise - even when it doesn’t make sense.

“…and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.”

– Genesis 21:1b-2

Married for Life,

jonathan

How might your life be different if you lived each moment conscious of your true citizenship? If you are a believer in Jesus, you are not home. Not even close. In fact, the Bible repeatedly refers to God’s children as aliens, strangers, ambassadors, living in temporary tents, and groaning with creation for our true home. But do you live right now with such an eternal mindset, a perspective that goes beyond urgent, material needs and desires? It’s a convicting question, isn’t it?

God has been leading me to the book of Galatians a lot lately. Maybe He’s trying to drive home this message of living life from a different perspective, a vantage point of faith, not sight. I want to share some powerful truths that comes from this wonderful book, in hopes that it will help you begin to live by faith, not clinging to your own wisdom or strength or talent as a means for experiencing freedom and true life.

5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Christ died to free us from the penalty and power of sin (and eventually the presence of sin when we enter our eternal home in heaven). Christ did not die so that, once our freedom had been purchased, we would return to living as slaves. It is a silly thought to imagine! Picture with me a convicted murderer sitting behind steel bars on death row (a penalty he rightly deserves), rotting away because of his atrocious crimes. Now imagine this criminal not only being pardoned by the president, but the president himself taking on the punishment of the criminal. The president dies in his place to set him free. Would it make sense for that freed criminal to continue living behind those bars in prison? No! He is free, his payment for breaking the law was fully credited.

This is a faint, imperfect picture of the price Christ has paid for us to inherit eternal life, real life that never dies. But this life isn’t just freedom from past failures. This freedom is a permanent reality right now, today, for anyone who is a child of God through faith in Jesus. Right now, every believer in Jesus is positionally free from ALL THEIR SIN! Since our home is in heaven (Phil. 3:20) this freedom is already established, regardless of our alien status currently on this planet. What freedom God has given us in Christ!

5:5 - But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

This world is a mess. And rightfully so, considering the horrible stain of sin that covers it (not to mention the roaring lion roaming about, seeking who he might devour). But for believers in Jesus, we have a hope. We don’t have to live by the world’s rules, we don’t have to surrender to the power of sin or to anything or anyone in the devil’s kingdom. We are free to live pure, righteous lives through the power of God’s very Spirit within us. What hope!

So, why then are so few Christians living as aliens and strangers, as chosen people whose home is in heaven? I believe many are not living free from sin’s power because they are not living by faith. It’s just two words, but they are powerful and they make all the difference. The Bible tells us elsewhere that anything not done in faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). Whoa! That seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it? Not really, if you understand that when Christ died on the cross to purchase our ransom, He paid it all. Therefore, when we believe on His name to be saved, He owns us. We are His possession forever. And if we want to do anything (yes, anything) that will please Him, it must be done by faith.

Faith is trust, dependence. It really isn’t complicated. When I am living by faith, I am living in dependence on God. Period. Anything I attempt in my own wisdom or strength is not by faith, and therefore cannot please God or honor Him. And this is what Galatians 5 is trying to teach us. The key to experiencing true joy and fulfillment in life is to operate in total dependence on our Savior, Jesus Christ.

5:16 - So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

I love this verse! It is such a comfort to me in my battle against lust (as well as other selfish, carnal desires). What does it mean to “live by the Spirit?” The passage isn’t as hard to understand as some make it. There are numerous places throughout the New Testament that support the truth that you and I are spiritual beings, and we will either live “by the Spirit” or “by the flesh.” There aren’t other options. Either we are living “in Him” (Christ) or we are living “according to our sinful nature.”

So, to “live by the Spirit,” simply means we are following the direction of God in all things; spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, etc. And when we live by the Spirit, there is fruit produced in our lives that is totally foreign to what is produced by following this world’s system. Follow the world’s way of thinking and you only produce “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” (Gal. 5:19-21) But when you live by the Spirit, you produce “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” What a stark contrast!

Live by the Spirit and you will begin to experience what it means to be an alien, a stranger, and an abassador of the King of Glory. You won’t look like everyone else. You won’t talk like everyone else. You won’t think, work, play, or make decisions like everyone else. Why? Because, by faith in Christ, you have died to your former self, no longer slave to the power of sin in your body.

5:24 - Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

When you embrace your true identity as a child of God, redeemed and made alive in Christ, you are no longer bound to your sinful nature or the trance the enemy has over this world. You are FREE to live by the Spirit, tearing down strongholds of lust, greed, envy, anger, jealousy, addiction, and every other passion and desire tied to your sinful nature. What great hope! What great joy! What great grace God has given to us “by faith” in Jesus!

Will you live this moment as the alien, stranger, and ambassador you truly are? Or will you walk back to your chains of self and sin, to obey their demands in spite of the fact that those chains have been forever broken? You are free! So live as the free man or woman you are. And by enjoying your freedom, you will draw many others out of their dark prison cells into the light of God’s grace, hope, and healing.

Living by faith,

jonathan

Which of the following tech gadgets is your favorite?

• HD Television
• Blackberry
• Macbook computer
• Anything Google
• Bluetooth headset
• Anything wireless

My personal favorite is ‘anything wireless’ as I have three children under the age of eight in my house. Wires and children do not go together. But that’s not the point of this article, so I will move on.

Technology is great, it really is. I am thankful I live in a time in history where there is running water, electricity, climate control, automobiles, and air transportation. If my next meal depended on me having to kill it, skin it, and cook it, I might starve to death. It is truly remarkable what brilliant minds have produced in the last 150 years to improve our standard of living. But there is a very subtle danger in where this ongoing pursuit of greater technology can eventually take us as a society. We may develop more gadgets that increase the ways in which we can gather information or communicate with one another, and yet we simultaneously become more disconnected and lonelier than ever before.

I believe this subtle drift began with the telephone. Don’t laugh, it’s true. Alexander Graham Bell was a genius, along with others who were original contributors to the ideas of long-distance communication. As the technology of telephones was being created, many believed this new form of communication would unite people from great distances and make our world more “connected.” But something very strange, and very opposite, occurred.

As telephones became more available and more popular, the convenience of being able to pick up a phone and talk to someone miles away, caused people to consider options they might not have thought about prior to its invention. Like moving away. The logic made sense. If someone who lived in Dallas wanted to move to Houston, they didn’t have to take into consideration the distance this would create from their family and friends if they knew they could pick up the phone and talk anytime they wanted. So families began living farther and farther apart from one another. But they called to talk every day, right? Right…

And then there came the television. What an invention! Real people, real conversations transmitted across wires over miles and converted into images inside a box right into your living room. I have to admit, television is a fascinating piece of technology. But I think it also serves to disconnect families more than unite them. Maybe not so much when TV was “born,” but over the years it has created light years of distance and disconnection between people living under the same roof.

How much communication is encouraged through watching television? Usually it causes just the opposite, right? Let’s say you are watching a football game and your wife walks in and begins to ask you a question. Is the TV encouraging you to connect with your wife? Hardly. It wants your undivided attention, and usually gets it, to the detriment of your marriage. The same happens when your kids walk in. And depending on which particular game is on, the president himself might not even pull your attention away from the box.

Finally, we come to the Internet. Can anyone say (in their best impersonation of Woody from Toy Story), “To infinity and beyond?!” This tool of technology is mind-blowing. You can gather information from anywhere in the world in a millisecond. You can make travel arrangements, buy a car, pizza, or sporting event tickets. You can make a website, talk to strangers, and view anything imaginable (which is often one of the biggest drawbacks to the Internet).

But are we any more connected in our relationships because of these tools? I would argue no. In fact, I would say they often, very often, pull us away from real relationships, real connection, and real life. Phones have become entertainment devices, not a tool to keep us connected to those we love. Television, also affectionately knows as the “boob tube,” is used as a means to escape reality (despite all the “reality TV” shows it promotes). And the Internet is daily sucking people into its endless web of news, entertainment, and “convenience,” all the while our lives are drifting away from true connections.

I’m not asking anyone to cancel their cell phone service or chunk their TV or unplug from the Internet (although, I have lived for years without TV and can’t say I miss it - give it a try, you might like it). I’m asking you to pause, put the Blackberry down, turn off the TV, log off the Internet, and take a look around you. When was the last time you sat outside under a tree with your wife and had a face-to-face conversation? How much time have you spent listening to your kids, not giving advice, but just listening? (By the way, this will take time you don’t believe you have.) How long has it been since you’ve had coffee with a friend or invited someone over for dinner?

Many who invent and promote the latest advances in technology sell such advances as products that will make life easier, less stressful. Has that been your experience with technology? It hasn’t been mine. We tend to add all these tools of technology into our lives, hoping they will deliver on their promises to make our lives simpler and less complicated. But technology can never replace relationships, the simple face-to-face interaction we were designed for. It is only in relationship, with God and others, that we will ever find peace, true contentment.

Will you take a moment to evaluate your relationships, asking yourself if you have become distracted by all the gizmos that aren’t delivering on their promise to improve your life? There will always be a “latest” whatever, but it is fleeting, only a momentary flash of something spectacular before it is dwarfed by the next best thing. Relationships, however, can last a lifetime – and beyond (there’s Woody again).

Let’s focus on what lasts, not worthless idols.

Desiring real connections,

Jonathan

Ok, so the title isn’t original. In fact, I stole it from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But I like it and I think we might just be able to glean some real life wisdom from it (for those of us scurrying around on this blue ball called Earth). 

Life is filled with transitional moments. Think about it. From the time you get up in the morning until you put your head back on the pillow at night, your life and mine is all about transitions. Most of them seem small and insignificant, like moving from your house to your car to the highway to your office and back again. These don’t seem like transitions that could cause your heart to stop or your palms to get sweaty. Regardless, life is still about transitions, external and internal.

Certainly there are “larger” transitions in life, a job change, a new house, an illness, divorce, marriage, children, death (yes, even death is a transition in life). And almost always these transitions tempt anxiety to surface and fear to grip us. We panic. 

Your boss may walk in your office one day and say, “I’m sorry but we have to let you go.” Your throat dries up, your heart beats faster, and you immediately begin processing what this transition means to your family, your finances, and your future. Panic rises, begging you to clutch the reigns of your life more tightly and begin to forcefully steer your life in a new direction. But what if you responded in a totally different way? What if you didn’t have to listen to the voices of anxiety and fear? What if there were a proven response for effectively dealing with all the various sizes of transition in your life?

What if you transitioned from fear to faith?

I have been reading Matthew 6 quite often these days as I attempt to deal with a transition in my own life. I was just informed recently that one of the primary avenues of income for me and my family has dried up. I immediately found myself going into “fix it” mode and trying to get all my ducks in a row for the next season of my life. But the moment I tightened my grip, I clearly heard God whisper in my ear, “You’re not following.” He gently, yet clearly, kept repeating this phrase anytime I tried to take the reigns, whether it was looking for a job online or letting my mind wander to all the things this new lack of income might mean to my family.

God has been teaching me that my fear is often born out of my desire to be in control. When something happens in my life that is beyond my control (such as losing a job), fear is immediately present, knocking at the door of my heart tempting me to look inward rather than upward. My typical response has been to just spin those panicked thoughts, wringing my hands as I attempt to bring all my wisdom and intellect into the equation of solving the problem at hand. Yet God, in his patience, has called me to something new, a life free from fear and filled with faith.

I won’t pretend that faith comes easily. I believe this is why it is so fundamental to living the life God designed us to live. Faith is the direct opposite of what comes naturally to us. We naturally seek to control our lives, rarely ever considering an alternative. We may think that God is only to be “bothered” with big issues like marriage, illness, addiction, or what color our next car should be (just kidding). But seriously, do we truly believe God is the eternal sustainer of life, that Jesus holds everything together by the power of His Word?

Every transition in life, small or large, is an opportunity to respond in faith. Every breath, every step, every word, every deed, every mistake, they are all moments we are given to make a choice. And the choice is simple, will you lead or follow? Will you drop the reigns of your life, turning them over to the One who knows you better than yourself, and say, “Not my will, but yours.” Faith overwhelms fear.

Are you struggling with a transition in your life? Maybe you are going through a season of transitions. Don’t panic! The God of heaven and earth is not unaware of your circumstance. But he is also less concerned about your situation than he is of your response to it. He sees through all the external issues and looks directly into your heart. Is He seeing faith or fear? As I have heard of one wise, old saintly woman say, “God loves to be trusted.” When He sees faith, He smiles.

But don’t worry, even when He sees fear He doesn’t condemn or shame you. He leads. Will you follow?

Learning to follow,

jonathan

grace, n.

The freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.

There is no other doctrine, I believe, that is simultaneously the most difficult to understand and yet the easiest to receive than that of grace.  Denominations are split over it, pastors argue about it, cultures ignore it, and only a few ever embrace it.  Why is this one little word, this small, yet overwhelmingly powerful concept, so difficult to embrace?

I meet people every day who are weighed down by the burdens of life.  Many of them have suffered abuse and terrible trauma in their histories.  They were beaten, molested, used by others for sexual gratification and other unspeakable acts.  They have scars and pain that runs deep.  Most have since learned to use their bodies in some addictive manner to seek relief from this pain, only to realize that their addictions simply lead to more pain (for themselves as well as their friends and family).  Their lives are then held up by many in the religious world as examples of decadent, self-indulgent living that Scripture clearly denounces.  They are ridiculed, rejected, and run over by the very people entrusted to share the beautiful news of grace with them.  Many of them already know God, but run to the dark corners of life in a useless attempt to hide from their shame.

What kind of response do you think I get from these individuals when I tell them that God loves them?  Since many of these folks have grown up in religious circles, their response is often one of scoffing or disbelief.  They snort, turning their head aside with a mocking grin stretching across their face, as if to say, “Yeah, I’m sure God loves a guy who cheats on his wife and regularly thinks of killing himself.”  It is as this point that I bring up the topic of grace.

“Yes, God does love that guy.  And you know why?” I ask.

“Probably because He has to.  He’s God, after all.”

“No, He loves that guy because He chooses to.  He loves that guy because of grace.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you couldn’t earn it, so you can’t lose it.  It’s a love that is constant, pure, perfect, and eternal.  And it matters not a wit what behaviors you commit as to whether or not it is given or present.  Grace is a one way street of favor and love based solely on the prerogative of the one giving it.  The only thing you can do with grace is reject it.  And even then, it doesn’t change.”

About half the time, people want to hear more.  Some, however, have been so hardened by the difficulties of life they choose to remain locked in their shame, unwilling to even entertain the notion that there is Someone who is constantly and perfectly in love with them - every minute of every day, regardless of how imperfect and broken their lives have become. 

Why is it so hard to embrace grace? 

I believe you don’t have to go any further than the definition of grace to understand why it is so difficult to fully embrace.  Grace is defined as the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.  Let’s break down this definition to see why grace gives us such trouble in our daily, broken lives.

First, grace is freely given.  No obligation, no payment for it, no way the person receiving it could demand it.  It is freely given, not in a begrudging, obligatory manner like we see so often when human beings give gifts.  We are prone to attach strings to our gifts, fully expecting a return on our “investment.”  Not so with grace.  It is freely given, no strings attached.  It is a gift that demands no response and expects no return.

Next, grace is unmerited favor.  Unmerited simply means we don’t deserve it and we can’t earn it.  Merit has to do with my abilities or giftedness.  But grace never takes those qualities into account.  They don’t matter in the economy of grace.  Whether the most talented or the wealthiest or the smartest or the strongest, grace never sees those characteristics.  Neither does grace evaluate the most broken or most wicked or most abused as disqualifiers for receiving favor.  It is unmerited.  Grace is not given based on the “qualifications” of the one receiving it, otherwise it stops being grace and it becomes merely a wage, something earned or forsaken based on the merit of the individual.

Finally, grace epitomizes the love of God.  The Bible tells us that God is love.  Love is an essential attribute of God, it is part of what defines and separates God as God.  Perfect love, not defiled by sin or brokenness.  His love does not waver or wane.  And grace is the vehicle God uses to remind us of His perfect love, this one way street of undying, permanent affection the Creator has for His beloved creation, mankind.  The Bible reminds us that God does not deal with us as our sins deserve, and that we can find salvation and eternal life through simple, childlike faith in the finished work of His Son, Jesus.  And this salvation comes through grace, the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.

Unfortunately, this truth of grace is hard for many to embrace.  It requires a humility that is unnatural.  It means we must look in the mirror and say, “There is absolutely nothing I can do to earn favor with God.  It is completely His work of loving me, redeeming me, and changing me because of His good pleasure, not mine.  Grace is not about me, it is simply given to me.”  This is hard to say.  We want to think we can bring something to the table when it comes to grace.  We may believe we are saved by grace, but then falsely assume we must then work to “keep” God’s favor afterward.  But grace is grace.   God doesn’t change.

Another reason it is so hard to embrace grace is because we think it is limited.  We believe we might be able to actually reach a point at which we have sinned so much or so grossly that God will eventually throw up His hands in exasperation and declare He is done extending grace to us.  But if we believe this to be true, we have changed the definition of grace.  Because, remember, grace has nothing to do with the merit or worthiness of the one receiving it.  Grace is NOT about the recipient, it is about the Giver. 

One of the greatest deceptions that has entered the church is that a person could lose their salvation based on their behavior (i.e. if you sin enough, you will lose your salvation…or you probably weren’t saved to begin with).  Heresy, I say!  This is just another way of bringing works (something I could do, or not do) into the equation that has nothing to do with grace.  And it cheapens the magnificence of God’s beautiful grace.  It elevates man to a position of judge, determining another’s salvation based on how well they are performing.  This is understandable, as the doctrine of grace is scary for a preacher to preach accurately.  After all, it might mean there will be some carnal believers in his flock, thus displaying to the rest of the congregation that he has lost control of his church and they may choose to worship elsewhere.  But God says that He will not lose a single one of His children, even the carnal son or daughter who continues to choose their will over His.  Grace is freely given and never revoked.

Is this a hard truth?  Yes.  Is it an essential truth?  Absolutely!  God’s grace has the power to change our lives into something beautiful, something of value in this life and the life to come.  But we must always remember that it is HIS grace, beginning and ending as His gift, His favor, and His love.  We are simply the wretched, undeserving sinner who happens to have the unspeakable joy of receiving such an unmerited gift.

“Amazing grace how sweet the sound…”

Embracing grace,

jonathan