Cheap Grace!

A new reader of this blog is really getting beat up. Like me, this person emphasizes the grace that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord as the defining and sustaining dynamic of the Christian faith.

The response to his writings? “When are you going to say something about obedience, commitment, and morality?”

The unspoken charge? “You just want the Christian life to be easy and cheap!”

I assure you that is not what grace-teachers believe. There’s nothing cheap about grace, nothing soft about grace, nothing easy about grace.

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What Tempts You?

What would you consider the most serious and debilitating temptation to a true Christian?

Sexual sin?

Lying?

Spiritual laziness?

How about none of the above?

The most serious temptation that derails Christians is the temptation to return to the law once they’ve received new life by trusting in Jesus. It’s a “Now that Jesus saved me, I better get to work to clean up my life and make Him proud of me!” temptation. And the so-called Christian culture cheers them on, “That’s right. Get to work for Jesus you sorry-little-sinner. That’s what we’re doing!”

No They’re Not!

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When I first met the real Jesus in the 60s revival–the Jesus Movement–I was impressed with His self-control.

I’m not talking about His ability to somehow throttle His emotions while walking on earth the way the fundies picture Him, all buttoned-down and loafered-up with no excesses.

I’m talking about God controlling Himself in the way Jesus did when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness or when His enemies asked Him for a big rocket across the sky miracle.

If I were God, I’d show those people what for.

I’d turn the whole mountain to bread and then throw it into some lake that I had turned into a bowl of chicken noodle soup. “Okay, Satan, my man, how about that?!”

“Okay you dirty little Galileans. All these miracles you’ve already seen aren’t  enough to convince you? Then how about some fire and brimstone to heat this argument up a little. What do you think of me now?”

That’s what I would of done.

But of course I’m not Jesus. I’m not God in the flesh. I’m not the Friend of Sinners who never gives people what they deserve. He just loves them and lays down His life for them.

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“Whatever happened to our hope of heaven?”

That’s the question an aged saint asked of a small group she had joined when a twenty-something Bible student told her he could care less about heaven because, “He was into being the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting world.” He was about living for others, not about what He would get someday through some, in his words, “pie-in-the-sky” promises that, again in his words, “medicate the poor and hurting” so that they’ll accept social injustices.

As a Jesus Movement convert of the 60’s, I’d have to own some of this young man’s charge. We were so focused on “getting people to heaven,” we convinced ourselves we could ignore the social insensitivities, the prejudices, and injustices of our day. Wouldn’t want anyone to accuse us of preaching a “social gospel” like the liberals.

However, if I’m reading my Bible correctly, there’s no good hell and no bad heaven. Seems to me this isn’t an either-or but a both-and deal. Believers who ignore the hurting aren’t living out Christ’s love in this world; believers who ignore eternity aren’t living out what He says about the world to come.

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I’ve heard a lot of sermons and read articles about how Moses didn’t have faith when he told God he couldn’t accept the assignment to lead Israel out of Egypt.

I think Moses did the right thing.

Most Christians just charge off doing what we think we should before even considering our own capacity.

Truth is, neither Moses or the most spiritual believer of the church age can do anything without God…except mess things up.

I sure wish I would have been more “Moses-like” before I decided I could some of the things I tried to do in His name. I should have said, “No way, Lord. I’m not strong enough!” Then, just like He did with Moses, the Lord would have shown me His power and I would have avoided a lot of pain.

The pastor paced the floor screaming out to God. “What did I do wrong? All I ever wanted to do was serve you!”

I had just had breakfast with the chairman of his elder board who had asked me, “Where did we go south on this? All we ever wanted to do was see people come to Christ.”

Church fights, family tensions, embattled ministries, friends at odds—the most discouraging and damaging dynamic in Christianity.

I’ve been around churches and working with church leaders for decades, and I’m convinced that the number one reason church leaders fight isn’t doctrine or philosophy of ministry. Our problem is that in the furious blur of personal and corporate ministry, we begin to neglect our relationships.

I know, it happened to me fifteen years ago.

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I’m convinced that eternal life is a gift freely given to all who believe in Jesus.

Whenever I say this someone will protest, “That’s cheap grace!”

Really?

What’s cheap about an absolutely innocent 33 year-old man in the prime of life walking up a hill with a cross on his bloody shoulders?

What’s cheap about this man who could have called down legions of angels submitting to the Roman soldier who pounded stakes into his limbs?

What’s cheap about this man hanging on that cross while religious people spit on him and shouted insults?

What’s cheap about this man calling out to His Father in heaven to forgive his tormentors?

What’s cheap about this man crying out to His Father that it is finished?

What’s cheap about the tears and wailing of his mother and followers at the foot of that cross?

And what’s cheap about God and His Son, Jesus, agreeing in eternity past that this is what would have to happen if they wanted to express their love and offer their life to sinners?

I’m amazed that the same Christians who argue for a great big Jesus, the One who created heaven and earth, the One who came to earth and lived as a man, the One who rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, don’t think He’s big enough to love sinners.

When I try to tell them that the beginning of all that we have as believers and all that we ever hope for is the love of Jesus, they quickly remind me that it can’t be that simple.

There must be something we should do.

There must be something that sets us apart from all those “other” types of sinners.

There’s only one explanation for the church’s resistance to the radical, never-ending, never-deserving, never-taking-back, love of Christ for sinners: Satanic deception.

Read Galatians; read Romans; read John.

The love of God is not limited by the performance of mere human beings. The love of God is measured by His Son’s performance on the Cross.

He’s big enough to love sinners like me…and you.

The Lost Week

For most of us, the seven days between Christmas and the New Year feels like a lost week. The blur of our Christmas schedules—big events, big meals, and big expectations—have depleted our emotional reserves, and the challenges of a whole new year feel overwhelming.

Want some encouragement? I devote this time every year to look back over the year to develop what I call “Hindsight Faith.” I generate my “God’s Top Ten List” from the previous 12 months. If you keep a journal or a calendar, this will be easy. But even if you haven’t recorded the major events of your life last year, they’re still fresh in your mind.

Set aside some time to be alone with God, and ask His Spirit to help you determine the ten greatest things God did for you last year.

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I’ve been teaching Psalm 138:8 for over three decades and telling the story of how that wonderful sentence, “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me,” became our life verse. It was a dramatic moment in 1978 when a young Lieutenant Ed Underwood thought he was saying goodbye to his bride and his little family.

We thought I was marching to war from Ansbach, Germany and leaving them behind to take care of themselves as the fury of the Soviet Empire rained down on them.

We didn’t go to war, but that was the night Psalm 138:8 became our life verse.

Every time I preach that sermon, people ask me to help them find their life verse. My answer is always the same, “You don’t find your life verse; your life verse finds you.”

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