Everyday Grace

Have you ever been to a peewee league baseball game?  I am talking about a game played by kids 6 to 7 years old.  If you haven’t, it is quite a show.  Fly balls are generally caught only when the ball just happens to fall into the glove.  If the ball is thrown to a given fielder there is at least a 50-50 chance he will just duck.  When a fielder does pick up a batted ball he knows to throw it, but seldom where to throw it or how to throw it, so it is always an exciting experience to see where it goes.  Runners are the same, they often take off running on what seems to be a whim and just as often stand there like statues when the ball is hit.  I’d say close to 90% of the time a ball is hit it will whiz by kids who are standing there daydreaming.  Nevertheless, it always seems that kids are having a good time, unless of course, parents or coaches yell at them.  The game is just great fun to watch.

But more fun still is watching, or more accurately listening to, the adults in attendance.  On every play two or three coaches on each team start shouting instructions to the various players involved.  Almost every parent in attendance is watching his or her kid and they too begin to shout instructions to their sons and daughters; each intent on making sure their kid is not the one who does some of the funny things in the first paragraph.  The end result is a cacophony of well-meaning and basically good instructions flying through the air.  The odds of the kids understanding, let alone following, these instructions is near zero.

The interesting thing is that, when the game is over, you can seldom tell by looking at the two teams who won and who lost.  Both seem happy.  The game was an experience not a contest and now, since they are probably going to go out for ice cream, things are even better.

So, other than encouraging attendance at kids’ baseball games, what is my point?  I think that the Christian life for most evangelicals is a very similar experience.  We know that in our Christian walk we are like the kids.  We are well-meaning and doing something we really want to do and really want to enjoy.  But we are going to mess up more often than not.  And as we go, the air is filled with shouted well-meaning, good instructions.  “Read your Bible more!  Pray every day!  Serve the Lord!  Witness!  Get involved in missions!  Love your wives, submit to your husbands, obey your parents!  Be generous with your giving!  Trust the Lord!  Worship with a whole heart!  Discover your spiritual gifts!  Read this book/take this course/attend this seminar about discipleship/evangelism/parenting/marriage/living the Christian life!”  The result is a cacophony not unlike the peewee game.  Sadly, we’ve come to see that cacophony as the normal evangelical life.

Each kid in the game has the desire to be the best player he can be and the dream to be the best there is, to be the hero of the game.  And the same is true for each believer in Christ.  In neither case are we dealing with a lack of desire.  But we are weak.  Or at least I know I am.  And I don’t think a chorus of “ought to” shouts from the evangelical bleachers helps.  We need leaders who desire to get to know us, and to help us know Jesus.  We need friends who will walk with us on our journey.  We need people who will patiently and calmly teach us, often over and over, not just with shouted instructions but by modeling these behaviors for us.  We need people who are willing to let us make mistakes and go on loving us.  We need patience, we need time, we need calm and steady friends.  And we need a body of believers that values going out for ice cream after the game more than winning and losing.

If I was to give this article a subtitle it would be “How a younger generation is moving toward a more pro-life position on abortion and what we Christians are doing to try and stop it.”  But before I get into that, let me share the good news.  Recent polls show that among younger women aged 18-29 an increasing percentage are calling themselves pro-life and there is now more than a majority, even among non-Christians, that think abortion is a moral issue. 

As I said, this is good news.  In fact, at a time when Christians are increasingly seen in a negative light, to see more people sharing our views on this issue is great.  How has this come to be?  Are they being persuaded by the overpowering logic and compassion of our arguments?  No.  In the poll many of the young women make this clear, they still doubt and distrust pro-life leaders and organizations. 

So why are they changing?  It’s a combination of two things.  One is advancing technology and the second is the intransigence of the pro-choice side.  As technology, particularly sonograms, improve it is easier and easier to see clear images of unborn children with tiny features, beating hearts and obvious movements.  In the face of this, pro-choice leaders continue to use agenda-motivated terms like “unwanted fetal tissue” to describe these tiny children and this is turning off these women.

One would think that these are exciting times in the pro-life camp and that deep and sincere outreach would be taking place to these young women to help solidify their views and support them.  Perhaps the tide may be turning on this decades-long stalemate.  But we don’t see much evidence of this.  Pro-life forces continue to see this issue as needing to be fought on two fronts, politics and protest.  And, if I may say so, they are fighting these battles in ungracious ways.

Just witness the fate of the hapless pro-life congressman, Bart Stupek.  He and a few other Democrats succeeded in getting pro-life wording into the House version of the recent health care bill.  When he later agreed to keep this pro-life wording out of the bill in exchange for the signing of a Presidential order giving the same wording he faced death threats and charges of “baby-killer.”  You may disagree with Stupek but the baby-killer charges are outrageous ungrace. 

On the protest front pro-life forces continue to waste time and effort on fruitless campaigns.  Whether it is sending thousands of red envelopes to the White House that went unread and did nothing more than annoy the mail room and custodial staff, or heartless protests harassing troubled pregnant girls, they accomplish nothing but to make us look uncaring or silly.

Grace teaches us that this battle needs to be fought and won in person-to-person encounters.  When a young mother-to-be brings the DVD of the sonogram of her unborn child to show her friends at work, when we support in personal ways unwed pregnant women or parents struggling to adopt, when poor families find their church a refuge and support, or in a dozen other caring ways pro-life people become friends and not faceless protestors we win these individuals.

It is hard to express the joy you can have when you see an adorable baby in the arms of a proud mother who had considered abortion and you know you were there for them in their struggle.  And, even better, as we move in that direction of making our abortion stance personal and real there will be opportunities to reach out to the young women in the survey above who are on the verge of being more pro-life.

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.

They are two of the most well-known characters in the Bible.  We know them as “The rich young man” and “The woman caught in adultery.”  Like so many people in the Biblical narrative, the spotlight of Biblical history shines brightly on these two individuals for one brief episode and it seems as if all of heaven and history looks on.  Then they move out of the spotlight and disappear, never to be seen or heard from again.

Their times in the spotlight begin and end quite differently.  The young man comes eagerly, the Bible says “running” to Jesus, seeking the last details needed to assure his place in heaven.  The woman, however, is dragged to Jesus, almost surely fighting every step of the way, fearing her imminent death.  Undoubtedly the young man came already in possession of the high esteem of the community.  The woman was most likely a pariah even before she was dragged to Jesus.

At the end their situations are reversed.  The rich young man “goes away sad” seemingly unwilling to follow Jesus’ instructions to sell all that he has.  But the adulterous woman finds her life amazingly spared and leaves with Jesus’ last words in her ears “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” 

Commentators generally get the lesson right on these stories.  If you bring your own good works but not a heart yielded to Jesus, you will go away sad.  If you cast yourself on the mercy and grace of Jesus you will receive both. 

But my question is what happens next in the lives of these two individuals?  Does the woman, her life transformed by her experience of grace, go on to be a life-long devoted follower of Christ, forever forsaking her wicked ways?  Does the young man, bitter and disappointed, forever place his faith in his good works?  

Or is it possible that the woman, getting back to her old home and friends, still rejected by the “good” people, returns to a life of sin?  And it is possible that the young man, after long and hard reflection, comes to realize that no works are good enough and no riches are worth new life in Christ?

We simply don’t know.  The Bible finishes the point it was making at the end of the story and does not record their future lives, any more than it records ours.  We must always remember that the end of the narrative is not the end of the story, just the end of what God chooses to record.

But for me, the grace-lesson of this silence is easy.  Yogi Berra summed it up this way:  “It ain’t over till it’s over.”  We don’t need to assume that the young man’s point of dismal failure ends God’s interest in him, and we can’t assume that one moment of a shining “spiritual high” for the woman assures her salvation.  In fact, there is no mention whatsoever that she was saved.

Personalizing this, I don’t want to coast through life on moments of spiritual exhilaration and don’t need to be defeated by moments of spiritual failure.  The truth is that we will have both in our walk with God.  Spiritual high points are great and we rejoice in them.  But we need to remember that grace is sufficient even in the everyday plodding of our lives.  And failure, even catastrophic failure, does not need to be the end.  God is always ready to forgive and restore.

Who knows?  Maybe at some point in the eternal fellowship of heaven, you may have an opportunity to sit and talk to both these individuals and marvel with them about the grace of God.

It was April 29^th.  In South Pasadena, CA., at the girl’s track meet, South Pasadena and Monrovia were competing for the league championship.  It was close, nip and tuck, and it came down to the last event, the pole vault, to determine who would win.  The crowd of hundreds sat in hushed silence as each vaulter took her stance. 

A South Pasadena girl went first and cleared 7’6”.  A Monrovia girl was next and cleared 7”0”.  The second Monrovia girl cleared 7’0” as well.  It was now all up to South Pasadena’s final vaulter, Robin Laird.  If she could clear 7’0” or better, her team would win the meet and the league championship.  Put yourself in her place and imagine how nervous you would feel.  After one aborted try she sprinted down the lane and launched herself…and cleared 7’6”.  The meet was over and South Pasadena had won.  Half the crowd was crazy with cheers, half sitting in glum silence.

But the Monrovia coach wasn’t through yet.  He went over and spoke to the referee.  Seconds later the ref came out and made the announcement that stunned the crowd.  Robin had been disqualified, her effort was invalidated, and Monrovia was declared the winner.

Robin’s infraction?  She was wearing a friendship bracelet. 

It seems the league rules prohibit the wearing of jewelry in competition.  Monrovia’s coach, a 54 year old man with 30 years experience knew every rule and he knew this one.  Although he denies it, evidence points to the fact that he knew before the vault that she wore the bracelet and waited, saying nothing, until she had vaulted and her disqualification was sure.

In tears Robin tore off the bracelet and threw it away, vowing never again to wear one.  Controversy and bitterness still swirl at both schools and nobody, except perhaps the winning coach, seemed happy.

The whole thing is, of course, an object lesson on law.  The “law” was upheld, “justice” was done, and the “guilty” punished.  Overwhelmingly, as the sports world learned of this incident, the rule-quoting coach is being castigated and questions are being raised about the concepts of sportsmanship and the passion to win.

As I read that story I could understand the law concept.  The coach was right.  But my heart was clearly on Robin’s side, which made me the typical reader.  Deep in all our hearts, whether we admit it or not, lies the secret awareness that we are guilty of violating the letter of the law almost all the time, that we do not and can not live up to the law.  And in the human heart as a result is a yearning for grace.

When my indignation toward the coach comes flowing out I must confess it is as a result of the fact that I identify with Robin and not him, I am in need grace.  And yet, how many times in my life have I acted more like him than her? 

If I feel sympathy for that man at all it is because he will forever be known as the man who won a track meet on a technicality.  I doubt there will be fan clubs in his honor forming.  I suspect it will not be too long before he experiences something profound and perhaps surprising…a yearning for grace.

Robin, I wish you well; I wish you healing.  Coach, my wish for you is the same.  For both of you, I pray you know the ultimate giver of grace in a deep and personal way.

Well, Mother’s Day has come and gone.  For some it was a great day.  For others it was a day they are glad is over.  I was reminded of this in the days leading up to Mother’s Day by two communications I received on the subject.

The first was in writing, from a woman who is a dear friend and an excellent and happy mother.  Her letter, written to a number of people, contained the following line:  “A mother’s love for her child is the greatest of all human loves.”  She went on to extol the virtues of mothers and to urge us all to honor our mothers.

The second was verbal, and came from a man in his 30s who was buying a Mother’s Day card.  He looked sad, even angry, as he bought it.  As I spoke to him he told me of his mother, whom he resented greatly.  He said that when he was nine his mother, in a divorce settlement, gave up all custody rights to him in exchange for a cash settlement from his father.  His concluding line went like this:  “My mother sold me and yet I am supposed to send her a card every year.”  Wow.

How do we reconcile those two views?  We can’t.  The truth is that while some mothers are great mothers, others are exactly the opposite.  All mothers, like the rest of us, are fallen and fallible with strengths and weaknesses.  When given in a public setting, the call to “Have a happy Mother’s Day.” will be heard by dozens of fine mothers and dozens of children who regard their mothers with love and gratitude.  But it will also be heard by mothers whose children ignore them, children with painful memories of their mothers, childless women, and people all across the spectrum of life. 

How does a person of grace respond in such a setting?  Every situation is different but here are a few ideas to consider:

• We must allow others to celebrate and remember, even if we don’t share their situation.  Mother’s Day expresses an ideal, not a picture of every mother everywhere.  If a person can’t mark this day with joy it does not give them the right to “rain on the parade.”
• We need to be careful about using one-size-fits-all overstatements such as the one from the dear mother above.  As Mother’s Day progresses in our culture I’ve been struck by the portraits of mothers in greeting cards and the like.  Frankly, nobody can live up to the idealized standards that are being held out as “perfect mothers.”  It is hard enough to be a mom without having to live up to impossible standards.  Idealized statements do a disservice to fine mothers who are doing the best they can.
• It’s a great time to reach out in love and consideration to someone we know who might find the day to be an emotional struggle for one reason or another.
• It’s a good day to reflect on our own selves.  How am I doing in this area?  Do I need to strengthen/repair any relationships?  How does what I say and do to the mothers in my life on this day match the rest of the year?

That last point speaks to me the most.  In many ways, I think the day after Mother’s Day is very telling.  Do we just fall back into old patterns, having “done our duty” to our mothers?  Or do we want this to mark the start of a year in which we value and honor our mothers in a new and special way?

Well, if you didn’t make it to church last night, you missed something.  Not only did we have a great discussion on explorations of a mission commitment to Bolivia, we had the opportunity to see Bobby “pop the question” to Emma.  Congratulations to you both, I am sure God will bless you greatly in the days ahead.

I was thinking after I got home about the conjoining of these two things into one meeting and the more I thought about it the more I liked it.  You see, making a true mission commitment has much in common with getting married, it is the decision to bond your lives together “for better or worse” and it is not to be taken lightly.  In the same way that no realistic person makes a marriage decision based on a whim, or an idea that it might be fun, no missionary commitment should be casual.

Yet I do think we tend to overcomplicate the concept of seeking God’s will in such things.  We often look for some grand or sudden vision/message/affirmation from God, almost as if expecting Him to give us some sort of absolute guidance from heaven.  It might be nice if the chirping of our cell phones gave us a text message from God saying “This is what I want you to do, go for it.” but as far as I know He doesn’t do such things.

Or, we might resort to deep analysis, weighing all the pros and cons, seeking to equip ourselves to make an intelligent and informed decision.  We can weigh our aptitude, the need, the cost, the commitment required and plan a strategy.  Sadly, as one who has been there, I can assure you that no amount of planning and study can ever prepare you for missions.  I’ve come to see this as a good thing.  It takes away any possibility at all that we will depend on our own strength in a mission endeavor.

So how do we decide?  What is the proper way to discover if making a mission commitment to Bolivia is God’s will for us?  Frankly, I don’t see it as radically different from the process couples the world over have used in leading to marriage.  They meet, like each other, and agree to go on a date.  If that goes well, a second date follows.  Then, over time, as the chemistry develops, as they get to know each other, it becomes clearer that this is right, this is where I want to be.

No serious person, as they approach the first date, or the second, seriously analyzes if this is God’s will for their lives.  They are confident enough to get to know each other, enjoy the journey and see what happens.  A lot more can be said about “Christian dating” but as that is not the point of this article, I think I will skip it. 

Yet often Christians seeking God’s will on mission commitments ignore this reality.  They want the clear and compelling message that eliminates all the guess work.  Well, perhaps that is nice but I generally don’t see God working that way.

Last night, with Bolivia, our church agreed to go on a second date.  Great.  My advice is to enjoy the journey and see where it takes us.  Frankly, I have no idea, only hopes.  Right now, I am just looking forward to our second date.

Well, the secular press has picked up on some SBC research.  In a front page article USA Today extensively quotes research done by Lifeway for the SBC quoting the rapid turning-away from the faith by “millennials” aged 18-29.  Amid the numerous statistics showing wide-spread nonreligious attitudes and actions by millennials are the following statistics about those within this generation who claim that Jesus is their personal savior:

-        68% do not mention their faith among things that are “really important” to them.

-        50% do not regularly attend church.

-        36% rarely or never read the Bible.

-        40% say they have no responsibility to share their faith.

The article concludes by quoting Lifeway as saying “If this trend continues churches across America will be closing faster than GM dealerships.”  Wow.  Those are tough statistics and that is a tough conclusion.  Not clearly stated in the article is the fact that the study by Lifeway was done expressly for the purpose of planning SBC strategies for the future.

But what are our options in light of this situation?  They start with the fact that God did not walk out that morning, pick up his copy of USA Today to read, and say “Oh my gosh!  I never knew that!”  Our reactions and responses are based on the reality of God’s perfection.  We seek to know where our place is in His perfect plan, not devise some sort of rescue for a plan in tatters.  I’ve actually been thinking about this issue for some time and here are some possible responses.  (I am sure there are others.)  We can:

1. Don’t worry, be happy, just keep on doing what we are doing and hope for the best, ignoring the fact that this is the classic definition of insanity.
2. Hunker down, call those who are drifting away apostate, and turn our backs on them, becoming sort of a “Noah’s Ark” church with the doors closed against the storm outside.
3. Jettison everything we are doing and design a creative and exciting church environment designed to please all and offend none.
4. Examine ourselves with humility and repentance, engage millennials and others in honest and respectful dialogue, seeking to learn why they feel the way they do.

Here is one approach that I do not recommend – beating ourselves up over this and vowing to try harder.  Yet in many quarters this is exactly the response I see advocated.  It seems to me like a woodsman with an axe grown dull from use feeling that he can fell the tree if he just swings harder and harder.  Our woodsmen/evangelists stand with teeth clenched and sweat pouring down, slamming their dull axes into the tree with all their might.

Some of you might say that there is nothing dull about the Gospel, it is “sharper than any two edged sword.”  And you are right, of course.  But there are two points to consider.  First, we must not confuse the Gospel with our methodology.  The Gospel doesn’t change and we don’t need to doctor it for a new generation.  But the methods we use to present it must change all the time.  Every missionary who crosses cultures knows this implicitly.  We need to cross a new culture barrier.

Secondly, and to me more importantly, we need to ask ourselves “Am I really presenting the Gospel?”  We sometimes teach good things, teaching teens about sexual purity, husbands and fathers about being “real men”, parents about “Biblical” parenting, all of us how to stand for Biblical principles in the workplace, how to oppose unbiblical influences in society, steps for living the fulfilled life, etc.

As I said, these are all good thing.  But we’ve got the cart before the horse.  The Gospel is not teaching ways to change our lives and live for Jesus but rather introducing people who do not know Him to a Jesus who will change their lives.

Easier said than done, to be sure.  And maybe we will see some distressing things in the days ahead.  But the foundation is secure.  “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

Lately I’ve had the feeling more and more that perhaps God thinks we are hilarious.  I hope it doesn’t sound sacrilegious for me to say that, but it is a feeling I just can’t shake. 

Some of you may know that I’ve been involved in long-running witness attempts with two of my co-workers.  Each of them, in their own way, is far from God and each has been pretty resistant to friendship with Christians, let alone to the idea of considering the Gospel.  Well, the good news is that I’ve gotten through the friendship barrier.  I consider both my friends and am confident they feel the same way.  More good news, both are open to engage in some level of Gospel discussions.

But there is bad news too.  It seems the two of them have come to a severe work-related dispute.  They are both pretty upset and it is a sticky situation, perhaps even a legal one.  In their trouble both of them have turned to their new friend Tom to hear their frustrations and offer support and advice.  How I ended up with both sides of a serious argument turning to me for confidential input is a mystery to me.

Trying to get out of this mess without jeopardizing either friendship, to say nothing of the opportunities they give me, has been difficult so I turned to Peggy for some input.  Well, she gave me some…she laughed and told me “You are always getting in the middle of things.” That was helpful.

But all this made me think that perhaps Peggy has it right, and maybe God is laughing too.  I went into these friendships and “witness opportunities” eager and hopeful and have prayed about, and asked others to pray about, what I should do and say and what doors God may open.  In short maybe I was a tad too serious and God is sort of saying to me “You big dummy, it is not about you and your efforts, it is about Me.”  And perhaps He is even laughing with Peggy.

The more I thought about this, the more it struck me that maybe God always finds us hilarious.  We worry and fret about things He has completely under control.  We plan and dream about the future, clueless to His perfect plan.  We make sincere and diligent effort to do His work without being clued into the reality that it is He who works through us.  We get upset in His name about issues and circumstances that don’t bother Him at all.  We dwell on our sins and failures that He has long since forgiven.  And He thinks it is hilarious.

I’ve always had the idea that God is either pleased with us or displeased.  In my most self-delusionary moments, when things are going well, I have this mental image that He is in heaven telling anyone who will listen “Have you considered my servant, Tom?”  More frequently, I see Him sort shaking His head, sighing, and going “Tsk.  Tsk.”  Sure, I know He always loves us in either case, but I’ve never really dwelled on the concept that perhaps He sees us like a group of adorable, but not too bright, puppies getting into all sorts of things and making messes.

It’s taken me a little while to get used to the “adorable puppy” theory, which after all it not very flattering, and I hope it doesn’t upset you either.  But the more I think about it the more I am OK with it.  Yes, puppies get into messes and they have to be constantly cleaned up after.  But puppies are loved in a special way and if that is how God sees me, well, fine, so be it.  It keeps me from taking myself too seriously and if gives me a greater appreciation for His love.

“Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”  John 21:15

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart…”  Matthew 22:37

“Everyone who has left…father or mother or children…for my sake…will inherit eternal life.  Matthew 19:29

These quotes, and others like them, come right from the mouth of Jesus.  The message is clear, He wants first place in our hearts.  And, by and large the Church has responded.  We sing the hymns (“I’d rather have Jesus than anything…) say the slogans (Jesus first, others second, yourself last.”) and exhort one another to put God first.

But here is the question…do you really love Jesus more than your spouse, your children, your parents, etc?  Can I truly look Peggy in the eye and say “I love Jesus more than you.”?  Can you with the special people in your life?

Before you answer, let me share the story of a country pastor who visited a farmer in his congregation.  Their discussion went something like this:

“John, if you had a million dollars would you give 10% to God?”

“Amen, Pastor, I sure would.”

“John, if you had 10,000 acres, would you give 1,000 to God?”

“Amen, Pastor, I sure would.”

“John, if you had ten cows, would you give one to God?”

“Now, Pastor, that is not fair.  You know I have ten cows.”

In other words, it is easy to say something when you know you are never going to be called on to prove it.  So I can sing that “I’d rather have Jesus than anything” and feel pretty smug about it.  But do I really love Jesus more than Peggy?  Well, I have my moments.  There are times that I feel so in love with Jesus that it makes me cry.  But if I am truly honest, I don’t think I have enough of those moments.  There are times when, if I said that, I’d be lying.

So why does Jesus repeatedly say things like that?  Why does He remind us that He wants that tenth cow, or frankly, all the cows?  Well, I see two options.

Option A is that He knows He needs to continually shame us into loving Him more or we won’t love Him enough.  This is, as I see it, the law option.

But there is an option B, the grace option.  Jesus knows very well that I do not and cannot love Him as much as He deserves to be loved.  But He uses these commands to make clear that even in our imperfect love His marvelous grace is sufficient and His love never fails. 

I don’t know about you, but I am going with option B.  And when I do, I find I love Him all the more.