Showing forgiveness.
Displaying hospitality.
Being inclusive.
Faith communities, and individual believers, like to think that they live out the above, and frankly, many other "Christian" qualities.
But, there's a way to work out just how far your claims extend.
With whom do they stop.
Where does your grace cease?
Who won't you forgive?
Who won't you welcome
What groups of people won't you include?
I can think of people whom I don't want to show grace to and have excluded.
Equally, I can think of events, both done by me and to me, which I struggle to forgive and would result in disfellowship.
Now, I'm not advocating that we should be complete doormats... But, when we throw around weighty and costly terms like grace, forgiveness or inclusiveness, we need to be aware that, for many of us, our lives don't reflect all they could.
In short, all too often, the rubber doesn't hit the road nearly as much as we might feel it does.
The good news about the faulty equation we present is that it reminds us that we have a way to go in our discipleship and sanctification, that we are not God, and how much living out these core characteristics costs God/Jesus.
With whom do they stop.
Where does your grace cease?
Who won't you forgive?
Who won't you welcome
What groups of people won't you include?
I can think of people whom I don't want to show grace to and have excluded.
Equally, I can think of events, both done by me and to me, which I struggle to forgive and would result in disfellowship.
Now, I'm not advocating that we should be complete doormats... But, when we throw around weighty and costly terms like grace, forgiveness or inclusiveness, we need to be aware that, for many of us, our lives don't reflect all they could.
In short, all too often, the rubber doesn't hit the road nearly as much as we might feel it does.
The good news about the faulty equation we present is that it reminds us that we have a way to go in our discipleship and sanctification, that we are not God, and how much living out these core characteristics costs God/Jesus.
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