Grace – Law – Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Law or Grace? Law and/or Grace? Law and Grace? If I ever get this figured out to everyone else’s satisfaction, I’ll let you know. (I’m quite happy with my own limited perspective, thank you very much.)
Grace preachers are often accused of being soft on sin. At least, we’re often accused of being soft on sin by those who relish the role of prosecutor, judge, and jury, who act as if our primary job description in the scriptures is to eradicate sin in everyone else’s lives. (I’m still waiting for someone to show me chapter and verse on that one.)
To the contrary, I think grace preachers take sin more seriously. Rules only address external behaviors; grace applies to motives, thoughts, and attitudes as well. The rules may say “drive 55″, but my heart still wants to drive 75. The rules say “drive 55 or you’ll get an expensive ticket,” while grace says “my driving affects the safety of others, so I’ll stick with the rules.”
And who decides what rules are the most important? Why am I encouraged to preach about sexual activity but forbidden to speak about corporate greed? Why can I talk all I want about drunkenness, but not about our attitudes toward immigrants and the poor? Why are the Ten Commandments more important than the message of the prophets? Why don’t we have bumper stickers that say “Keep the Sermon on the Mount”?
The life of grace calls for me (and us) to submit ALL of life (personal and public) to the teachings and leadership of Jesus, not just the parts others see, and not just the parts that are convenient for me. That’s not to say rules and law are bad. I’m saying that we must use rules and law as God intended and not use them as a short-cut to avoid the total surrender God asks for.
What am I basing this on? Notice that God was “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” long before there was a Law of Moses. Notice that the Hebrews were God’s people long before they left Egypt and came to Sinai. The Law of Moses was given to help the Hebrews learn how to live as God’s own people. The Hebrews weren’t God’s people because they kept the Law; they kept the Law because they were already God’s people.
Rules can help me understand the disciplined life of the Spirit better. They can help me avoid mistreating others. But I must allow the rules to push me toward God. I understand God’s character better when I ask, “Why does God care about this?” Rules help me understand that my choices and actions have consequences, and that others are affected by my choices and actions. Rules help me understand that God hates sin, not because it’s a legal offense to God, but because sin harms myself and others.
But rules are no substitute for grace. Grace invites me into deeper relationship with God, while rules tempt me to stay distant and aloof. I refuse to give up the richness of the life of grace to settle for superficial religion. I am who I am because of the grace of God, and I am not ashamed to preach the life of grace!
