Charisa Stories

Tag: grace

  • Jesus Can Bridge the Cultural Divide

    Social media can be deeply distressing. So many posters are downright mean. If you disagree on an issue the broad brushing judges assign you to outcast status without any effort to understand your heart.

    May I share honestly what bothers me even more on social media? When those who claim to be followers of Jesus are divisive, judgemental, and graceless. How can we claim to have something of eternal value when we can’t focus on what unites us?

    A song from Mandisa and TobyMac came up on my playlist this week. The message is so important for all of us.

    Are you left?
    Are you right?
    Pointing fingers, taking sides
    When are we gonna realize?

    We all bleed the same
    We’re more beautiful when we come together
    We all bleed the same
    So tell me why, tell me why
    We’re divided.

    Why indeed? I am praying for leaders who will remind us that hateful rhetoric never, ever, ever changes a heart. Followers of Christ have a message of hope and light that is desperately needed. But we get caught up in the politics of our world and too often snuff out that light. I have probably been guilty of that over the years more than I care to think about. 

    I fear our culture will get darker in the days and months ahead. Followers of Christ have to make a decision. We can decide to complain that Christians are no longer respected and valued in the culture. We can whine that the media and elites mock us. Or we can decide to show the kind of kindness, forgiveness, grace, and love that early Christians demonstrated to change a hostile culture. We may not like this truth but Christianity really functions best as the underdog. In that environment we have no where else to turn but to God to give us the strength and grace to be a light in the darkness.

    What does that mean? What message makes a difference?

    During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods’ appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”

    Perhaps the fact that grace and forgiveness are rare commodities in this society is a big reason we see such anger and hopelessness. Our natural reaction to those who threaten our comfortable safe haven is to strike back. Jesus knew this would happen and He had some very radical instructions.

    “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13:34, NLT)

    Jesus did not say “I am offering a helpful suggestion to love people that look like you and agree with you.” Our Lord who died for people of all colors and nations commanded that we love one another. People of different colors, political beliefs, and personalities all inconveniently fit into the “one another” category. 

    If you push back that Jesus was just talking about loving His followers I offer this.

    “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! (Luke 6:27, NLT)

    Jesus knows our hearts doesn’t He? If you are “willing to listen” then hear my words to love your enemies. He knew we tend to conveniently not hear words that challenge our hearts. Am I willing to listen? Are you? I wonder what God could do if we followed those those two commands?  And how would it look different if we remembered that we are all created in the image of God. Our different experiences and stories should not divide us but instead create a beautiful tapestry of the amazing love of Jesus.

    If we’re gonna fight
    Let’s fight for each other
    If we’re gonna shout
    Let love be the cry
    We all bleed the same
    So tell me why, tell me why
    We’re divided

    Did you notice I centered the lyrics? No left or right justification. The only justification that matters is the work of Christ on the Cross. We all bleed the same. He bled for us. The color is red in every case.

    As a person with considerable mileage on my life odometer I am convinced the culture will never be healed by politics and programs. But I still believe the power of the Gospel of grace can heal our culture one heart at a time. We can be a part of that revival or we can give up and sullenly wait for eventual glory. May I grace challenge you to get out of your Christian comfort cave? Can I ask you to make an effort to get to know people different from you? Go meet with a spirit willing to learn the story and heart of people who look and think differently. And here is the most important thing.

    Listen. Listen. Listen. 

    I think you might be amazed at what God can do in those moments. The God who created this world can heal our hearts if we trust Him. The decision is up to each one of His followers. We can make a difference in whatever sphere of influence God has given us whether it is large or small. Only faithfulness matters and the question must be answered. Are you in?

  • Training Camp for Christians

    I love football. The opening of football training camps gets my juices going. I watch some of the greatest athletes in the world getting ready to play a highly skilled game. So what do they start with every summer at training camp?

    Footwork and technique drills. Coaches demanding constant repetition of fundamental skills. The best teams are the ones that most consistently execute the most basic fundamental aspects of their craft.

    Legendary Coach Vince Lombardi famously began each training camp by gathering wide-eyed rookies and grizzled veterans around him. He would begin by holding the pigskin in front of him and solemnly proclaiming an indisputable truth.

    “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

    From that rather rudimentary start he would detail the importance of understanding the fundamentals of the sport. I can learn something from that approach. When I first came to faith I was so excited to learn the fundamentals of faith. How do I study the Bible? How do I pray? How do I grow in my faith? But something seemed to happen as I accumulated some seasons under my belt.

    I forgot the fundamentals.

    I started looking for the latest trend in faith. Which trendy Christian leader should I emulate next? I defined myself by movements instead of by Jesus, the Cross, and His finished work. For me football training camp is another reminder that I desperately need the fundamentals of faith.

    Fundamentals are best taught by those who have the gift of teaching and complete knowledge of the skills required. You hope you can find an expert to teach you. That is exactly what the disciples did when they came to Jesus and asked for His help on how to pray. They had watched Him pray. They knew how important prayer was to Jesus. Now they asked him to teach them how to pray. Here is Luke’s “play by play” of that moment.

    One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

    He said to them, “When you pray, say:

    “‘Father,
    hallowed be your name,
    your kingdom come.
    Give us each day our daily bread.
    Forgive us our sins,
        for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
    And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:1-4, NIV)

    Over much of my fumbling, bumbling Christian journey I would skip straight to the “give us our daily bread and forgive us our sins” parts of that prayer. I managed to miss the most important fundamental of this insightful prayer contained in the opening words.

    I get to relate to God as my Father! That privilege comes only from my relationship with Jesus. Noted preacher Haddon Robinson stated that in the entire Old Testament God is only called Father seven times and it was always in respect to the Nation Israel. There is never a recorded instance where any individual dared to address the Sovereign God as Father.

    Now Jesus comes on the scene and Robinson writes about the amazing contrast.

    “When you turn to the New Testament, however, 275 times or more we are told directly or indirectly that when we bow before the sovereign majesty of the universe the word that should come easily to our lips is Father.”

    That is a fundamental game changer! I can come to the God of the Universe who knows my sin, my weakness, my failures and call Him Father! Are you kidding me?

    I also tended to zoom by the next fundamental. 

    Hallowed be your name. 

    Prayer starts not with a shopping list of what I want God to do but instead with worship and recognition of who God is. We are coached by Jesus to remember how great God is and to recognize that His ways are not our ways. We are taught to remember that His holiness is perfect and His grace is our hope.

    Hallowed be your name.

    When I learn those fundamentals the rest of the offense falls into place. He is my Father who loves me and wants the best for me. If the answer is no that is an answer. That may mean my request will be answered later. It may be answered differently. It may not be answered at all. But through all of those responses I trust that He is holy, powerful, and present. Embrace that fundamental truth this week.

    Today’s blog is an excerpt from Waking Up Slowly, a 21 day journey to grow closer to God and one another.

  • Confessing my “Hidden Agenda”

    The title “Evangelical Christian” seems to have become a pejorative to many in the media and culture. I understand the frustration (I have written about it a lot) when very vocal or celebrity Christian leaders fail spectacularly. I share your anger when a religious person espouses hateful or judgmental comments. I grieve when an institution or leader fails to protect the innocent.

    Critics say that Christians have an agenda and dangerous desire to control other people’s lives. I confess that has been true for some religious types. But the followers of Jesus that I have gotten to know over many decades don’t resemble that stereotype at all. Perhaps that is why Jesus warned so plainly about the dangers of power. The selfless, giving, and caring believers get little notice in this world but I believe they are quietly and faithfully making a difference. Jesus upset the organizational chart by placing those who serve at the top.

    I thought about what my answer would be if I was asked to outline my agenda. I certainly don’t speak for all Christians but I think I just might represent a number of them as I share my “agenda”.

    Let me start by telling you what this particular Christian does not believe…

    I do not believe you have to be a particular party to be a Christian. Heaven will be bipartisan and I am totally fine that there will not be “sides” of the Golden Aisle.

    I do not believe that God is “judging” America for any particular sin. But if He is judging this country I would suspect it is for the massive squandering of wealth and resources that we have been blessed with while giving back an average of less than 2 percent.

    I do not believe in ranking sins for their offensiveness to a Holy God. I am not referring to heinous sins here but things that are individually more offensive to some of us. The reality is that all sin is intolerable to a Holy God. We are either perfect or in need of a Savior. I am the latter.

    I do not believe that censorship, boycotts, or politics will redeem this culture…only a spiritual renewal of caring love and grace can accomplish such redemption.

    I do not believe that it is my place to relish or desire eternal punishment for others. I am willing to leave that to a righteous and just God who sees the real heart and motives for each one of us and Who will judge justly.

    Here is my agenda. Busted!

    • To try and see everyone through the eyes of Jesus because my eyes are prejudiced and prideful.
    • To try and love them like Jesus because my love is selfish.
    • To try and see that no one misses out on the message of grace, identity, acceptance and one-way love that is offered as a free gift of grace by the finished work of Jesus on the Cross.
    • To let them others know that my relationship with Jesus and His grace has changed my life, given my life purpose, given me strength to endure tragedy, and real hope for the future.
    • To authentically relate how this personal relationship with the living God saved my marriage and made me a better father to my sons.
    • To be gentle in relating the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to people in every situation. My goal is to introduce people to Jesus. If they are living in a way that is not biblical I will let them work it out in God’s timing while walking with them in grace and love.
    • To exhibit grace and forgiveness to those who attack me for not sharing their world views.
    • To freely dispense the grace of the living Christ to everyone I come in contact so that I can be salt and light to my little circle of influence.
    • To be an advocate for those wounded by the church and other Christians. Our lack of unity must grieve Jesus who prayed for unity of the body during His final agonizing hours before His betrayal, mock trial, and crucifixion.
    • To try to never be surprised or repulsed by the actions of those who do not have a relationship with Jesus. The Lord Himself was always gentle with sinners and always tough on religious hypocrites. We have reversed his example far too often. We are too tough on sinners and too gentle with the hypocrites in our midst.
    • To try and give generously of my time and treasure to those who have not been as materially blessed in my neighborhood, my country, and around the world.
    • To let people know that I love Jesus and I am not at all ashamed of that fact.

    It is easy to dismiss the hypocrite. No problem to ignore the angry and judgmental religious types. But before I came to faith I was troubled when I saw some Christians who displayed something different in their lives. I could not dismiss so readily the joy, peace, strength, courage, and love they modeled. They were “troublesome” Christians to me.  I could not ignore them because their lives were authentic and different (different good, not weird). I want to be that kind of Christian. I take these words of Jesus seriously.

    “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” John 15:12

    That was not a helpful suggestion. Jesus made that command the cornerstone of following Him. So that is my agenda. To love others as I have been loved and be a “troublesome” Christian to some.

  • Tired? Feeling Defeated? You’re Ready for Grace!

    Recently I had the opportunity to see Willie Nelson performing at the age of 90. I had forgotten that my music list had a thought provoking song from Willie called “I’m Tired”. Hearing the lyrics of “I’m Tired” again caused a lot of reflection, a bit of sadness, and prayer.

    The narrative tells about the life of a factory worker who is, sadly, merely going through the motions of life.

    Married Rebecca back in seventy-seven
    I still love her and I guess she loves me too
    We go to church on Sundays `cause we want to go to heaven
    Me and my family, ain`t that how you`re supposed to do

    That describes so many people that I know. Tired of their job. Treading water in their relationship. Going to church because they don’t know what else to do. It is particularly sad that so many Christians settle for a faith that leaves them discouraged and prone to sing the chorus of this song.

    But I`m tired, Lord I`m tired
    Life is wearin` me smooth down to the bone
    No rest for the weary, ya just move on
    Tired, Lord I`m tired

    This song penetrated my heart because that was me for so many years. After four decades of uneven striving I was simply tired. I was resigned to stubbornly stumbling toward the finish line so I could finally find joy in glory. The following excerpt is from the revised version of When Bad Christians Happen to Good People and it reflects the change in my heart.

    My fear of cheap grace and being soft on sin had led me into a dead end path of moralism and legalism. Legalism takes the sweet Gospel of Jesus Christ and mixes in some “churchified” version of the law. Church by-laws occupy equal footing with God’s Word. Righteousness is no longer about Christ but about right behavior as only they define it. Legalism cherry picks verses that support behavioral control while conveniently ignoring dozens of verses about grace, forgiveness, kindness, love, gentleness, and forbearance.

    Focusing on right behavior can make you a moral and good person. It does not make you righteous. Such focus is not much different (if at all) from an agnostic or sporadic church-goer who really tries hard to do right and moral things. Tim Keller wrote this provocative thought about legalism in his wonderful book The Reason for God.

    The devil, if anything, prefers Pharisees—men and women who try to save themselves. They are more unhappy than either mature Christians or irreligious people, and they do a lot more spiritual damage. 

    Without a doubt. I have been damaged. I have seen loved ones damaged. I have damaged others. I hate legalism but I don’t hate legalists. I hurt for them. I suspect they are as tired, miserable and wondering what happened to their once joyous message of the Gospel as I was.

    Righteousness is entirely because of Christ. Nothing I have done or will do will make me righteous. I spent decades trying to be “righteous”. When I hit a dry spell I would try harder, read more books, buck up, and beat myself up because I felt so distant from God. Lots of helpful Christian friends would faithfully remind me that God hadn’t moved so it had to be me. So I disliked myself more and tried harder and God seemed even more distant. I wrote a book about what to do with lambs that are wounded by the church and THEN I got wounded again by the church. It was like God was mocking me. I had reached the end of my spiritual rope. I cried out to Jesus something deep and insightful along these lines.

    “I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE!”

    God does not get insulted by all-caps. In fact, I picture Jesus smiling at that point because I was finally ready to trust Him and not myself. I had reached the point of brokenness that allowed me to really let Him into my heart. I reached the point where I no longer had to be right. I had reached the point where I didn’t want to wear a phony mask of holiness. I had reached the point where I was willing to trust God completely with everything about me. I had reached the point where I was ready for grace. I had reached the point where I was willing to believe what God says is true about me. That I am completely forgiven. I am completely loved. I am completely changed because of Christ. I am completely empowered with the Holy Spirit to mature into all of those things that are already true about me. I am righteous not because of anything I have done but entirely because of Christ.

    If you are tired enough, discouraged enough, wounded enough and ready to scream you can’t do this anymore then I have good news. You are ready for grace. I am not the same guy who wrote the first edition of When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. Writing that manuscript was part of a refining process that God used to bring me to the Throne of Grace and then to begin to create a room of grace around me.

    God is waiting for you to experience His grace. Legalism is a dead end street to misery. There is a better road. What have you got to lose?

    Start by Meditating on this familiar passage from Matthew 11.

    Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

  • What Does a Real Christian Look Like?

    Recently I passed a highway billboard with this message.

    Real Christians Obey Jesus.

    I get the intent of the message. Too many folks leave their Sunday Lesson in the parking lot as they drive to lunch. But exactly what does it mean to be a “real Christian”? We subtly (or in my own experience, not so subtly) program Christians to believe that growth is about doing more right things. That righteousness somehow involves my extraordinary efforts for Jesus. We imply that change can only happen when you are trying hard and being disciplined to obey Jesus.

    The truth is that a dramatic change has already happened when you make that faith commitment to follow Jesus. I think one of the biggest problems in the church is that we don’t teach clearly and repetitively what happens at the very moment we put our faith in the finished work of Christ.

    Let’s just hit the highlights. Scripture tells you that at that moment you have a new identity. You are literally a new creation. God sees you as righteous because of your relationship with Jesus. That’s it. Nothing you have done or ever will do earns that righteousness. It is a gift of grace. You are a saint. Redeemed. Adopted as His beloved child. Right then. Before you do a single thing you are changed completely when you trust Christ. 

    The trick is living out of that truth. Instead of exhausting effort to try and change I now see Jesus putting His arm around me and explaining that I have been already been changed. I see Him telling me that my sins are completely forgiven. I see Him explaining to me that all of those things that used to be true about me are no longer true. That no matter what the Accuser might say those things are dead and buried at the Cross. I don’t have to grit my teeth and try harder to win favor and please Him. That sin does not have power over me anymore.  That if I trust Him and let God love me I will please Him. My faith and trust is what pleases Him according to God’s Word.

    All I need to do to be a “real” Christian is to believe and trust that. I have been a follower of Jesus for five decades. During stretches of that journey you would have been hard pressed to see that my faith was real. What potential judges would not have seen was that Jesus was slowly and patiently working in my life to make me more in His image. I am a very different person today than I was in my early walk. It was never helpful to have someone point out that “if I was a real Christian” I would be doing this or that. What did help was having grace filled believers come along side me, believe in me, and help me find the gift of grace that Jesus offers. Those are the people you remember with gratitude and joy.

    Jesus talks about how we limit our ability to have peace when we don’t allow Him to provide us with strength. He didn’t mention a harness of legalism and works. He talked instead about a yoke, and that His yoke is “easy.”

    Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT)

    Jesus wants you to don His yoke. Trust Him. Have faith. He has done the heavy lifting already. Rest in Him.  Learn how to be humble and gentle in spirit. Quit trying so dadgum hard (that may not be in the Greek) and serve out of grateful love. Jesus tells us when we believe those truths, our burdens are light. The walk with Him is easy and natural.

    Being a “real” Christian means beginning each day with a profound sense of gratitude that Jesus offered me this gift of grace. A “real” Christian would never, never, never take advantage of a God who loves you so much that such a sacrifice was made.

    I do believe a “real” Christian obeys Jesus but it is so critical to clarify why and how. I obey out of gratitude for His grace. I love Him because He loved me first. Jesus loved me when I was unlovable. Forgave me when I was unforgivable. How hard is it to follow and obey someone who loves you like that? Not hard at all. And that is real.

    Excerpts from Waking Up Slowly

  • God Changed My Name

    I love the music and lyrics of Christian artist Matthew West. This week I listened to a song titled “You Changed My Name” that resonated deeply in my heart.

    You changed my name, You changed my name
    From Too Far Gone to Saved By Grace
    And now I am forever changed
    All because You changed my name

    I still have a tendency to forget that amazing gift of grace from God. He changed my name when I put my faith in Jesus as my Savior. My new name, mentioned several times in the New Testament, is “child of God.”

    To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

    John 1:12-13

    You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

    Galatians 3:26

    Because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

    Galatians 4:6

    Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.

    1 John 5:1

    So who am I? Retired television sports director? Author of some modestly successful books? Husband of Joni? Father of three outstanding young men? Ridiculously proud grandfather? Executive Member of Costco? All those things define me to some degree. But the one thing that is true about me that I find almost impossible to comprehend is that I am a child of God. Sometimes I answer to my new name and sometimes I just wander off thinking, you must not be talking about me.

    I shared this story in my book Waking Up Slowly: Spiritual Lessons from My Dog, My Kids, Critters, and Other Unexpected Places.

    There is power in believing in a name. Many years ago, for reasons I still don’t understand, I was cast as the lead in our high school senior musical. I had never acted and was not a trained singer. And yet that stellar résumé somehow landed me the role as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha. Go figure. The play is based on Miguel de Cervantes’s seventeenth-century novel Don Quixote. The drama unfolds as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. Cervantes takes on the character of “mad knight” Don Quixote.

    It was fun and challenging to learn page after page of dialogue as well as doing my best not to mess up “The Impossible Dream.”

    As I became immersed in the character of Quixote, I began to understand that the gentle and naive protagonist saw the world through eyes of grace. He perceived what people can become and not who they are at that moment. When he meets a prostitute named Aldonza, Quixote sees her as a lady, treats her with respect, and gives her a new name—Dulcinea.

    Aldonza’s reaction? She lashes out with fury and hatred as all her past junk pours out. Aldonza agonizes that her mother doesn’t know which of her many lovers might be Aldonza’s father. She rages about men who have used, abused, and abandoned her. And now this man calls her a “lady” and gives her a new name and identity. Aldonza hates what she has become, but even more she hates the fear of believing she could change and possibly face another crushing disappointment. At least her identity in a questionable vocation is familiar. And yet Don Quixote sees her as a soul created with value who can be redeemed.

    Gradually, Aldonza understands that Quixote is genuine, and she begins to believe what the old man says is true about her, that she does have value. When the “Quixotic” world of the man of La Mancha is destroyed and he draws his final breath, Sancho Panza, the faithful squire, addresses the grieving woman as Aldonza.

    She gently corrects him. “My name is Dulcinea.”

    Her identity had been changed by an agent of grace. She had a new name and new hope.

    That’s what happens to those who place their trust in Christ. God gives us a new identity and He calls us by a new name.

    His child.

    We also tend to fight back and remind God of what we used to be and all that is wrong about us now. But Jesus patiently reminds us of our new identity. He tells us that we have been changed. That our spiritual DNA has been rewritten. That we are a new creation in Him. That we are holy. Saints. When we believe what Jesus says is true about us, it will change how we live our lives.

    A righteous and beloved child of God. That is not an “impossible dream,” but a theological truth.

    I am a flawless child of God. Not because of anything I have done, am doing, or will ever do. It is because of what Jesus did for me on the Cross. Whenever I start wavering, I need to pause and remember my name.

    I am so grateful today for my new name. Child of God. Doesn’t that have a wonderful ring to it?

  • The Song “I Love This Bar” has a Lesson for the Church


    I write a lot about the importance of Christian community. I too often hear from wounded churchgoers that have not found a place of grace and caring. At the risk of riling the ever present spiritual hall monitors I want to suggest a reason so many people leave the institutional church in frustration and pain.

    My thoughts were triggered by a song titled  “I Love This Bar” by Toby Keith. If you will hang with me to the end before grabbing your judgement gavel I think you will at least see my point. I understand that bars can be a dark place to anesthetize pain. But there is a dynamic of these gathering spots that we can learn from. In my oddly constructed brain I listened to this song and dreamed of what a community of seekers and followers of Jesus should look like.

    Toby Keith loves that bar because any type of person can show up and be welcomed without judgement. Philip Yancey had this provocative observation in his book “What’s So Amazing about Grace”.

    “Having spent time around “sinners” and also around purported saints, I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus.”

    The early church was a mix of all types of people. The reason the faith spread against all odds is found in this description in Acts.

    And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity– all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.  (Acts 2 , NLT)

    I suspect that body of believers resembled the motley crew that Keith outlines in his lyrics. We were created to be in this community. A safe place that accepts and embraces those different from us because of our bond in Christ. That is what makes church dynamic to a person who experiences grace and acceptance for the first time. And that is why church can be devastating when the congregation becomes selective, judgemental and legalistic.

    A lot of churches have grace in their name. I am praying for thousands of communities that have grace in their DNA. A safe place where everyone and I mean everyone feels welcomed and loved. In this sacred place we would pledge not to gossip because we would realize that it is only by the grace of God that we are not the current targets. A community of grace that would make it a practice to reach out, touch, and care for one another sacrificially because we know that we all fall down in life and in our Christian journey. In this place we would have executives holding hands in prayer with laborers and not thinking twice about it. People of all colors would break bread together because we are all sinners in the eyes of a color-indifferent God and all are deeply needed in the body of Christ.

    This community of grace would give freely out of profound gratitude to a God who somehow saw fit to give us an undeserved chance. All of us would practice the prodigal son ministry, running to welcome those returning from mistakes and bad decisions. We would take the risk to get involved in the messiness of one another’s lives.

    In this room of grace we would welcome any spiritual travelers and make it a priority that no one ever feels alone. We would make each other feel valuable but, on occasion, a little uncomfortable. A community of grace would not back off the truth but would share with arms wrapped around our fellow sojourners.

    In this sacred room we would worship with reverence because we have received the most amazing gift ever offered.

    The sad reality is that most of us are afraid to commit to this radical type of fellowship because we aren’t sure what it would require of us. We want to maintain control and Jesus is asking us to do something radical. Grace is a white knuckle roller coaster ride of trust.

    That is my dream of what church should look like. And that is why Toby Keith’s song resonates with me.

    [Chorus:]
    I love this bar
    It’s my kind of place
    Just walkin’ through the front door
    Puts a big smile on my face
    It ain’t too far, come as you are
    Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

    Does walking through the front door of your church community put a big smile on your face? If not, what is wrong? Is your church come as you are or only come cleaned up and acceptable? We are made for community. The church needs to realize that it is not only a place of teaching and reproach but also a place of refuge and grace. A walk-in clinic for messy believers and messy seekers. We haven’t been honest that everyone is messy. Some just clean up better for show and tell. I agree with another quote from Yancey.

    “I rejected the church for a time because I found so little grace there. I returned because I found grace nowhere else.”

    Jesus is always ready to franchise a new room of grace. Here is the promise to hang on the door.

    Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

    That is not a message of law. That is a message of grace.

    No cover charge, come as you are
    Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

    That is another thing we have communicated poorly. There is no cover charge to join the body of Christ. Admission has been paid by the Lord Jesus. Come as you are. Really.


    Includes an excerpt from Waking Up Slowly.