But for the Grace of God...

After coming back from Christmas break, I have begun reading the book "Prodigal God" which is what we were discussing at the student development retreat. I feel like this book will be shaping the things that I think and write about for a while.

I question some of the authors assumptions, because he claims to have a very great understanding of the inner workings of the heart of everyone in the parable even though some of them are only mentioned for a few sentences. But that's fine. If he wants to say he can read minds of fictional characters from the ancient near east, he's free to do so.

He does make a few really really good points while he's at it though. One of the things he mentions is that it is impossible to truly forgive others when you think that you are better than them.

If I think to myself that the sins of others are the types of things that I would never ever do, that I am not even capable of such sins, that I am so morally superior that I couldn't be guilty of the same kinds of things that my fellow man is guilty of, then it looks like not only will I be rather short on forgiveness, but also I don't really understand the Gospel.

There are lots of sins that there is no way I would commit...now. However, who knows how I could change over time given enough pressure and temptation. The only thing protecting me from falling deeper into sin* is undeserved grace.

Think of it this way. Some people don’t have jobs because they are lazy bums. But that is probably not the biggest reason for unemployment. Sometimes businesses shut down or downsize, people get laid off, and other places aren’t hiring. In our current recession it’s easier to visualize this. But lets take it a step further and remember the great depression. Unemployment was 25% and those who had jobs were wondering if theirs was going to be the next company that went under.

Let’s pretend that the company you work for is still doing ok, but a lot of your friends have been losing their jobs and some of them have been losing their homes. In such uncertain times you realize that you might not have a job next week, but you are very thankful that you have one now. You might be one bad fiscal year from the breadline and two years from living under an overpass. But right now you are safe and secure, because your boss says that everything is ok, and you are going to be taken care of.

If that were the case, would you look down on people who didn’t have a job? Would you call them lazy? Would you think that they were uneducated misfits who were just living off the government because they had a stupid sense of entitlement? Or would you have empathy, because if things had shaken down a little bit differently, that could have been you?

But for the Grace of God, there go I.

An understanding of the Gospel, and the ability to receive true forgiveness stems from our understanding of our own depravity. I may not have committed sin “X” and hopefully I never will, but if circumstances change drastically (and they can) who knows what I would be capable of doing? Maybe I would even commit that sin I swore I never would commit.

Armed with that knowledge, let us forgive whole heartedly without a feeling of condescending superiority. Let us forgive as ones who have been forgiven, and who will need more forgiveness in the future. At let us forgive as ones who realize that God and circumstances, undeserved Grace, are the only things that separate us from the sins that we so despise.



*And the only thing saving me when I do fall into it