We are far enough into this blog that I thought I would stop and do something of a review.  If you are a regular reader you may see themes developing in this blog but I thought it might be good to list some of those themes on various issues.  So here goes:

  1. Witness and evangelism.  I can’t imagine how I can call myself grace-based and not be evangelistic.  But I see a distinction between traditional evangelism and grace evangelism.  I need to say this carefully because it may sound offensive but grace evangelism is friendship-based and says, in effect, “Because I care about this person, I want them to know Jesus.”  Now just about anyone who is an active witness would say the same thing but grace evangelism has this distinction – the relationship was not created for the declared purpose of evangelism and is not affected if that person does not accept Christ.  If you read most friendship evangelism guides they talk of intentionality in the relationship development.  They say, in effect, the opposite of the quote above, or “Because I want them to know Jesus, I care about this person.”
  2. Bible study.  Again, because I see myself as grace-based I can’t imagine a life not based on regular reading of and reflection on Scripture.  And because I want to understand what God is telling us in the Bible, I am thankful for commentaries, study helps and good methodologies for properly understanding the Word of God.  However, I see the Bible more as a story God wants to tell us than a book He wants us to study.  Put another way, I see God’s purpose in Scripture less as saying “Here, do an intensive study of this book and you will know what I want you to know.” and more as saying “This is what I want to tell you about Me and my love for you.” 
  3. Doctrine and Denominations.  Because I see sound doctrine as essential, and multiple denominations as acceptable, I think the idea of having a personal doctrinal understanding, and the desire to fellowship and worship with those who agree, as a valid and even critical part of the Christian life.  Nonetheless, and here I don’t want to mince words, I believe that because the world sees our denominational struggles and animosity, this may be the biggest single obstacle to effective evangelism.  Taking it a step further into the making of dangerous statements, I suspect that a great deal of our doctrinal squabbles occur in areas that God does not see as essential to our faith.  For example, God communicates in Scripture a compelling, no-doubt-about-it, picture of who Jesus is.  He does this because it is important to Him that we understand this.  Any rational person examining the disputes on such areas as baptism, the role of women, tongues, the end times, etc. has to conclude that God has not slammed the door shut on understandings other than our own.  I can’t see this as a result of a loving God making us study harder and more to “get it right”, but rather as an indication that it is not essential (maybe nice but not essential) to God.
  4. In the world but not of it.  I have no compelling desire to “speak against” the sins of this world in a confrontational way.  I can and do grieve about the sins of this world but I don’t see the role of the grace-based Christian as one who is always pointing an angry finger at others.  I feel that my best witness in these areas is to be distinctly different in a steadfast but calm and loving way, particularly when my differences cause me to make decisions and take actions that seem self-sacrificing to the world.  I also want to be continually and intentionally engaged in a wider non-Christian world on a personal level, even if it exposes me to things about which I am uneasy.
  5. Grace is everywhere.  While this world is dominated by ungrace, conflict and animosity there are examples of grace in action, the need for grace, and the hunger for grace, everywhere.  All we need to do is open our eyes to see them.  The more we see these things, the more we will be grace-based and confident in a loving God even if the world seems crazy and uncaring.  If we want to be, like Paul, apostles of grace, then asking God to “Show me your grace” means more than “be kind to me”.  It also means “Let me see these grace examples with open eyes and an open heart.”  The more we see grace in action, the more we will be equipped to be those apostles of grace.
  6. Being a giver of grace is great fun.  I toyed with trying to sound more spiritual by saying “…is a great blessing.” but couldn’t pull it off.  Being able to show kindness, to speak peace, to extend courtesy and compassion in the name of Christ, is such great fun that it is hard to not giggle.  For example, as a cashier at work, I frequently find customers struggling to get exact change for their payment or to avoid getting, like, 96 cents in change.  So I have this ministry of giving small amounts of money to people day in and day out.    I can’t tell you how much fun that is.   Yes, God has opened some doors through this but even when all I get is an incredulous stare it is still fun.

In essence, these are the principles of Everyday Grace.  I don’t claim them to be authoritative or exhaustive.  You may disagree; you may add others of your own.  I’d like to think that grace makes me OK with that.