Naïve Grace-Part 2
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is continued from last week and is again by the late Mike Yaconelli, and the scripture is Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Most of my life, I heard the message loud and clear that Christianity was all about coloring within the lines and coloring well. If I was a good Christian, if I loved Jesus and wanted to please Him, if I read my Bible, prayed, and went to church, then I would get better and better at coloring. And if I lived a long and godly life, I would eventually be able to draw close to the perfect drawing. But wherever that message came from, it was a lie -- I am 52 years old, and my coloring still looks like Alana's.
I believe God looks at my coloring and says, "Hmmmmmmm. You certainly like the color green! Lots of passion in this stroke. I like it."
Even as I write those words, I can hear the "concern" of those who worry about others misunderstanding the gospel. "You're not suggesting, are you, that nothing matters to God? Certainly, God has standards!"
What I am suggesting is that God's grace is outside the lines of our understanding, and we can only stand in awe and wonder. Christianity is not about learning how to live within the lines; It is about the joy of coloring. The grace of God is preposterous enough to accept as beautiful a coloring that anyone else would reject as ugly. The grace of God sees beyond the scribbling to the heart of the scribbler – a scribbler who is similar to 2 thieves who hung on crosses on either side of Jesus. One of the two asked Jesus to please accept his scribbled and sloppy life into the kingdom of God…and He did. Preposterous.
And very good news for the rest of us scribblers…
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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