Grace

Grace, she takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
Grace, she's got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She's got the time to talk
She carries a pearl in perfect condition
What once was hurt, what once was friction
What left a mark no longer stains
Because Grace makes beauty out of ugly things

These lyrics (courtesy of U2) have been ringing in my ears lately. The concept of grace has, actually. It seems mysteriously absent among Christians, myself included. I'll be the first to admit that I don't get it. Not the absence of grace, but the concept of grace itself. It seems contrary to everything in me. It seems to go against my American-ness. Grace isn't what one deserves, but, as some define it, unmerited favor. So why is it that I have such a hard time showing others unmerited favor?

I think I like vengence better. Whether it's toward one who has outrightly wronged me or toward one who has unpurposefully inconvenienced me, I prefer getting back. It's a shame, really. I of all people live and move and breath as a result of Grace. Why can't I seem to show it to others?

What I've been thinking most about lately is why Christians, including myself, don't do a very good job at this. I think legalism is at the root of it in many ways. I can feel better about my own righteousness if I despise the unrighteousness of others. It's easier to point out how terrible others are at parenting when I can bolster in my own mind all the right things I'm doing, or belittle others' mistakes. Parenting is of course only one example. I think too of church attendance, or financial choices, depresesion, or even driving. It's so easy to feel self-righteous when I've attended church a record number of weeks, to then call out a brother or sister because they missed a week.

Truth has this way of taking us in this direction. We know something to be true, and so we lambast anyone who doesn't measure up. But grace is meaningless apart from truth. The world has it's form of grace. It calls it tolerance. And in this relative age, we Christians have turned any tolerant act into sin. But I don't think all tolerance is sinful. Some is, for sure. But many times I think we Christians feel self-righteous in our judgmentalism, rather than seeking first the Kingdom and Christ's righteousness. Remember, His righteousness is imputed, not earned. As Kingdom citizens we really ought to be the most gracious of people. Christ Himself had this uncanny way of calling sin "sin" in a most gracious way (except to the self-righteous religious leaders).

And so when it comes to my own feebleness, I'm trying to avoid self-pity, while at the same time trying to avoid climbing out of the hole with my own self-righteous shoes. I ought to live and move and breath in the knowledge that I am the chief of sinners. It's not that I should be slack about others' sin. But I should certainly show the same grace that I so love and appreciate my Heavenly Father shows me as I daily stumble through this life.