The Key of Grace, Part 2

One of the essential marks of the Body of Christ is that it is a community that cultivates grace. Grace is not only something we are supposed to receive from God, but a gift that is to be given to others. We are not to be a people who only know about needing grace; we are to be a people who know about giving grace.

What is grace? Often when I ask people for their definition of grace they say “grace is an acronym: it means grace received at Christ’s expense.” It is true that grace is received at Christ’s expense, but that answers the question “how do we get it” not “what is it.” You might well define grace as getting what you don’t deserve. The popular Christian band, The
Newsboys, sing a song called Real Good Thing. The chorus goes like this:

When we don’t get what we deserve
That’s a real good thing. That’s a real good thing.
When we get what we don’t deserve
That’s a real good thing. That’s a real good thing.

The first line in the chorus is talking about God’s mercy—not getting what we deserve, which is punishment for all our sins. The second line is talking about God’s grace—getting what we don’t deserve, which is salvation and all the blessings that come with it. The focus of grace is granting undeserved kindness or blessing when from the point of view of justice none is deserved.

What is true of the grace that God gives each of us is true of the grace that we are expected to give to one another: grace is granting undeserved kindness when from the point of view of justice none is deserved. When we are caught up in a person’s mess, we are to respond with compassion, when we are treated poorly we are to respond with kindness, when we are criticized we are to respond in humility, when others are angry at us, we are to be gentle, when others are having a hard time and struggling we are to respond by bearing one another’s burdens, and when we are sinned against we are to forgive them no less than the Lord has forgiven us. That is what being full of grace means. That is what the practice of grace looks like.

Let me share two reasons why grace is such a key characteristic of authentic biblical community.

Jesus treated people with grace. Grace compelled Him to humble Himself and spend Himself serving others even when He was seeking rest and solitude. He was as free with forgiveness towards tax collectors, prostitutes, and the very people who nailed Him to the cross as He was with His closest disciples. He did not turn away people who were ritualistically unclean, contagiously ill, or possessed by demons. His grace cut through the iron walls of class, culture, race, and gender. His grace was not intimidated by either tradition or position. Jesus was full of grace, and therefore it is no surprise that He expects His Body, His Church to be a people who are full of grace.

Grace is proof of the power and presence of God is in the midst of His people. I don’t know about you, but what I have been learning is that grace—real grace—is supernatural. Which is to say it is not natural. It is beyond our nature to give the kind of grace God expects of His people.

One of the reasons that churches are struggling so much today is that the grace they preach about is not the grace that they give. They talk about the real thing but then practice something quite diverse from their talk. God says in Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT) The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. And so as with all things valuable in this world, grace has got its counterfeits.

We are compassionate, but only towards the people we like. We are kind…when we are in a good mood. We say we are humble while our thoughts are very proudly critical. We are gentle in patient as long as it is convenient and serves our agenda. And we will forgive on the condition it does not cost too much and the offender repents.

Friends, that is counterfeit grace. And when it comes to light that we have been preaching one thing but practicing another, people come to the only conclusion they can—they were duped.

On the other hand, where divine grace is not only preached but practiced in our life together, people come to the opposite conclusion: This isn’t normal. This isn’t how people act. This is profoundly different. Real grace leaves people speechless.

Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Charles Roberts walked into an Amish School Monday October 2, 2006. Once inside, he declared his intentions by showing his guns. He ordered the adults and boys out and had the Amish girls (who ranged in age from 6-13) lie down. He then explained that he was mad at God because years ago his first child, a baby girl, died after living only 20 minutes. He told the girls he was sorry for what he was about to do, but “I’m angry at God and I need to punish some Christian girls to get even with him.” He shot and killed ten of them and then shot himself.

The response of the Amish community ended up being as big a story as the school shooting. They became the incarnation of Colossians 3:12-14 to Robert’s family. Instead of anger and disgust, they responded with compassion and visited his family to grieve with them in their pain and loss. They showed kindness in attending Roberts own funeral, they showed humility in not pointing fingers or casting blame on his family, they were gentle and patient with them and invited them to attend the funerals of their girls, and the very day of the shooting the relatives of the girls began to call the family to say they forgave Roberts for his crime.

A person commented on all this saying,

It’s ironic that the killer was tormented for nine years by the pre-mature death of his young daughter. He never forgave God for her death. Yet, after he cold-bloodedly shot 10 innocent Amish school girls, the Amish almost immediately forgave him and showed compassion toward his family.

Their response left the nation speechless. Unfortunately, it also left many Christian communities speechless too. If we practice that kind of grace in our life together, that truly amazing grace that only comes from the Spirit of God Himself, people are left with no other conclusion than God Himself is living amongst us. Grace is what makes the Body of Christ stand out and stand apart. It is the one fruit more than any other that testifies to the reality of the transforming power of Jesus Christ.