Grace and Choices

“Grace gives us choices,” says Pastor Tom Sims in a blog entry entitled Paradoxical People.

Good point. Tom is talking particularly about our ability to be ourselves. I like to call the alternative “putting on your faith face.” I see it primarily in churches. You can’t possibly go to church, after all, without making sure that you are modelling a “self” that other church members will find acceptable. Unfortunately churches are often places where you will most likely be judged–and condemned.

That is where grace is supposed to come in. As Christians, we are people who are what we are because of God’s gift, his grace. I can hammer the point about not judging, and quote Matthew 7:1 all day, but the key is in realizing that we are all the products of grace, and we need to extend grace. Church should be the place where you can truly be yourself, where it is safe to be yourself, because God’s grace is extended by everyone there.

Tom continues: “The real person is the one in the blueprints, the finished product in the mind and heart of the Creator – fearfully and wonderfully made, beloved, creative, awe-struck, funny, joyful, and caring.” That’s God’s grace in action.

Let me make a few suggestions for congregations that would like to be grace filled:

1. Be honest. Each person who is honest and open about his or her experiences encourages someone else to do the same. If you’re open, people can trust you when they are also open.
2. Don’t condemn. This doesn’t mean that you pretend that wrong is right. When someone brings a real problem to you, they don’t need to hear that things are fine as it is. It may be the hardest thing to do, but we are called upon to recognize sin, but show grace to sinners. If we can’t do that, we really can’t carry out the great commission.
3. Don’t get stuck on the negative. God’s grace is building us all. We need to recognize what’s wrong and take action, but we don’t need to dwell on the wrong or wallow in the muck. Grace doesn’t mean we stay down. Grace means we get to move on toward the plan in God’s mind.

Make each day a graceful one!