Grace Downward & Outward

"The Church is where Christ is."

                                                                                            - Jurgen Moltmann


In my life, I have faced trials and made mistakes; I've been judgmental and harsh at times.
Like many Christians, self-absorption creeps into my psyche from time to time.

Yet, because of these failings I have learned some wonderful truths about grace.
And for the mistakes, sins and failures of my life, I am truly thankful for without them I would have never known the depths of God's grace in this life nor how to pass His grace from my heart through my hand to another.

It takes no grace at all to relate or even to love someone who is just like me; white, Protestant, heterosexual, outdoorsman,  veteran, degreed, male.
But it takes infinite amounts of grace to be able to understand, love and relate to those who are the opposite of me; yet, it is these whom I've been able to come to appreciate since being healed of Cancer.
Now, sometimes that has been very difficult, but not impossible.

Truthfully, I believe God is allowing me to share in yet another part of the beauty of His creation; not only that, but to become an active participant in demonstrating what His grace means to me.

Every person, regardless of color, gender, race, genetics or sexual preference - everyone has been created in the image of God.
Because I believe this, it raises the value of all people in my mind and should raise our respect of those people as well, including those who are different than we are. 

As the Body of Christ, the Christian should seek God's image in those who are not in our image.
For, the more we love and learn to appreciate those who are not like us, the more we resemble God.

When it comes to those with whom we disagree, how we treat our opponents can be our greatest achievement or our greatest failure.
Oh, I know friendly debates can turn unfriendly and become heated and hurtful very quickly. 
And I know how hard it is told a tongue that is afire with thoughts from a heart which has been wronged in the past.
God knows and has experienced these things as well; in His Proverbs through an ancient author He reminds us of what it means to be like Him in those times by saying:

"A gentle answer turns away wrath..."

You see, even a person who may dislike us, hate our politics, disagree with our choices; even that person deserves to know the grace of God.
And that person will never be argued into the Kingdom of Heaven because nobody, and I mean nobody, wins those types of arguments.
We walk away with a smugness, an arrogance perhaps - but it is always at the expense of another person with the result being another convert against the very faith we hold dear.

As Christians, we would do well to understand how little we don't know about other people and about God.
There is a beauty in embracing the mystery of God in this fashion.
Is this not what we read of in Job or scattered throughout the Psalms?

The truth is that as humans and as Christians, we do not have all the answers to life's problems; but in dispensing religion we will fail. 
We must dispense grace.

Do you know what the difference is between religion and grace?
It is how you view the other person.

Do you other people, especially those with whom you disagree, as potential converts or as someone God already loves?
Therein lies the answer to your own heart and purpose concerning Grace.

Now, I will be the first to admit, even though I love the Body of Christ and appreciate the rich 2,000 year history of the Church, that Christians have been on the forefront of some fairly horrendous acts in the name of God since the Lord walked the Earth.

At times, we acted no better than those of a previous generation who persecuted Christians. 
In time, the persecuted became the persecutors and sought vengeance.
The Crusades, the Inquisition, the introduction of disease to the Indians...and many other instances....Christians have failed Christ.

And that is why Grace is the abundant gift of God; for, we are in desperate need of His grace.

Admitting our personal errors, failures and sins expresses rightly and in the best way who we truly are at our core → Recovering Sinners.

Unlike dispensing Christian propaganda, when we admit our failures, it disarms others and tells them the truth - that we are just like they are, we just sin differently than they do.
Jesus once said He didn't come to the righteous, much like a doctor doesn't go to treat the healthy but the sick; if we were righteous, we wouldn't need Him.

We should readily admit our shortcomings and see through the eyes of faith that all people are made in His image and have shortcomings similar to our own.

You see, when attempting to demonstrate God's grace through your life, it is in the questions of faith, not in the answers, where we have the most commonality with those who are not like us spiritually.
That common ground is always a wonderful place to start.

I have learned that God has done some of His best work with those who are hopelessly lost, whose lives are a wreck, who seem to be on their last legs.
Remember those parables from the Gospels about the 'lost' things?
The Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep, The Prodigal Son?

The coin was lost, but rejoiced over when found though the owner had many more.
The Sheep rejoiced over when found although the owner had many more.
The Prodigal Son, he was lost to the world and pleasure; rejoicing began when his father saw him on the horizon returning home.

The common theme is simply this → There are millions of people in the world today, no, billions. And God values each of them so much that he rejoices when another one comes to Him and is 'found' like the coin in the story; or the sheep or the son who returns home.

Ultimately, and theologically, God created us for Himself and literally moved Heaven and Earth to secure our place with Him in eternity.
And while I have my failures, mistakes and sins; if I had been the only person in need of grace, His Son would have still volunteered to go to the Cross so that I could be reconciled to God.

Because God values each person that much, so should you and I.

You see, Grace flows downward, similar to water.
It must originate with God, come to me and then on to someone else who needs His grace just as much or more than me.

To find Grace, it should be found in Churches; but Jesus said it is also found in those whom He called, 'The Least of These.'
Do you know who they are?

They are the hurting, the hungry, the homeless; it is the single mom struggling, the floundering father in the bar. It is a man  who has been derided and ridiculed as 'queer,' or the woman shunned by being branded a 'whore.'
They are the 'up-and-coming', but also the 'down-and-outs.'

They may be physically poor, financially poor, but the one thing they have in common is that they are all grace-poor; just like me.
And what I have, I must give to another so that they might see what difference Grace makes in a life that needs that missing link to life fixed. 

In the Scriptures, in particular Acts 17, the Apostle Paul is preaching throughout Asia Minor and comes to Mars Hill.
There is something often overlooked in that sermon recorded in a few verses in that chapter; it is Paul's attitude toward the Greeks in Athens.

What we see is a servant of God who wants others to understand the Lord as He understands Him; to have the grace Paul himself had received. 
It's a wonderful attitude to have, wanting others to know the blessing you already know; not to show superiority, not to gloat in truth; but rather, to demonstrate the greatness of God's Grace.

You see, there is a huge difference between treating someone as if they are wrong OR treating a person as if they have lost their way.

Most people in life, they've simply lost their way.

Earlier in my life I cut my ministry teeth in a high-tempo, high-octane job as a Chaplain in a trauma hospital in what is affectionately referred to as 'Kentuckiana.'
The University of Louisville Hospital gave me more to think about and decipher in my young mind than I could ever imagine; mostly, I believe, it was because nearly every time I went on shift, somebody died.

In those long nights on the floors and in the Emergency Room, I witnessed what I believe was my first miracle, the dedication and caring of nurses and the expertise of a handful of doctors. 
One thing I took away from my time in the Hospital was that the entire medical staff would work and work and do their best to help the hurting for hours on end, even if the sick and suffering was self-inflicted.

There is a lesson from those docs and nurses from so long ago.

The Christian faith requires that we as Christians care; yet, we are tempted to do otherwise.
It is only through Grace that this 'requirement' ceases to be a duty and is transformed into a privilege, no longer being a 'required' act but an act of voluntary love.

The truth of it all is this → Either life is Holy or it doesn't mean anything at all.
And if it is Holy, it must be redeemed.
To be redeemed, that life must experience God's Grace.

That Grace, it must flow downward from God and outward through His servants to those in need; regardless of race, education, faith, sexual lifestyle, color, gender or a thousand other differences.
Grace is owned by God; those who have received it, have no right to hoard it for themselves while others are hurting.

Until next time, share grace and win one for the good guys.