Grace Part Two

I just wanted to give you my take on why we talk about the subject of Grace in an intellectual way instead of an experiential one. I believe that Donna hit the nail on the head in the "comments" section of my last post regarding Grace when she said that it requires us to confess when we talk about it experientially. Confession does not come easy to a people who are full of pride. If you grew up in the fellowship of churches of Christ, most likely you had or still have some pride. How could you not? We were taught from an early age that we had all the right answers. We were "unique". I may be the only one, but when I was growing up I was more conscious of the fact that I belonged to a church of Christ than the fact that I was one of God's children.......a Christian! Was I born with that belief? Nope, I LEARNED it. Add to pride the communication that only perfection is acceptable, and you really have ruled out any chance of true confession and transparent living.
How many elders did you ever witness asking for prayers in the congregations you grew up in? You were part of the perfect church, with perfect elders and any thing less was not allowed. That is why most of my generation are not part of this fellowship anymore, and a lot of them are not part of ANY fellowship. They gave up on trying to be perfect. So "Grace" was pretty much a "denominational" theology or doctrine....who needs grace when you are perfect?

So I thank the Father for men like Monte Cox who have been preaching the last 10 years or so that Jesus came "Both full of Grace and Truth". He makes the point that truth without grace is not really truth, and grace without truth is not really grace.

If we are willing to be confessional, THEN we will be able to talk about grace to people on a level that they can relate to.....an experiential, every day living level. There is a HUGE difference in experiencing grace and knowing about grace. The world doesn't need to know about grace, it needs to experience it. Think about that the next time somebody wants to know from you what grace is all about. Old habits die hard, and it will be easy to give it the ole "unmerited favor" speech. That won't impact people to make a radical transformation........and that is what Grace is all about.

Thanks Donna!