'Under-valued' Grace
One of the perks of working in a Christian organization is
time spent in morning devotion at the Lord’s feet. At work, we follow a daily
devotional called Everyday with Jesus
by Rev. Selwyn Hughes. It will have a small Bible portion, a thought to
meditate on and a prayer. We spend some time discussing the thought afterwards.
Every month will have a theme to meditate on and February was on the topic of
Grace. Some truths about it were eye-opening and the illustration I am going to
talk about was birthed after about 5 months of meditation.
Grace to a regular church’ go-er’ might sometimes sound like
a narrow topic. We hear and sing about it so often that we know it is ‘amazing’
and it is because of that we have eternal life today. But just a superficial understanding of grace
with important and regularly used Christian jargons can terribly under value
grace and we start treating it as an exclusive
right that we can demand than an undeserved
privilege. It will make us live arrogantly than gratefully.
The concept of a Savior dying for my sins and wiping it all
away even before I was born and commit those sins might be hard to fully
understand. Those who mock the Christian faith say that we can sin until the
last minute in our lives, then ask for forgiveness and go straight to heaven.
What is wrong with this logic? And why do some Christians still justify when
they sin and say “God will forgive.. isn’t He a merciful and gracious God”? Has
grace become that ‘Cheap’?
Let’s imagine this situation. The scientists of the world
have put their minds together to create a wonderful technology which will give
electricity to everyone all over the world. Unfortunately, they make a big
mistake and they have started an irreversible radiation which they know will
kill everyone in the world. Governments, schools, universities, research labs
and every institution drop all projects in their hand and try to find a cure
for this disease. Bridges are not built, overseas trips are cancelled,
courtrooms are shut down and everyone is panicking. International boundaries,
disputes, fights and egos disappear and world leaders sit together to find out
how they can find a cure for this disease. And after a lot of research, heavy
spending and all the best scientists working together, they do find a cure for
this disease! It is this liquid -like magic potion that every man has to drink
and the human race as we know it will survive! However, the catch is this magic
potion extends a life by only 24 hours. So, everyone has to drink it every day.
And, also it is very very expensive to make. All nations quickly spend all
their money on only in the production of this magic potion and making pipelines
and connecting every home(boy, girl, black, white, Asian, rich, poor, urban,
tribal and rural) so that people can have it whenever they need it. That’s the
only way, mankind can survive. After completing this do-or-die project…mankind does
survive. Thanks to the magic potion. Every morning as soon as waking up, and
brushing their teeth, every man will look at himself the mirror, fill his tall
glass with the magic potion and gulps it down and lives for one more day. But
think about this one man, who stands in front of his mirror with the glass in his
hand, remembers all the efforts the whole of mankind took to produce this
valuable solution and how it gives life to him every day… and without blinking,
pours the magic potion down the drain…. After staring at it for a few seconds
nonchalantly until it fully goes down the sink, he fills his glass once more
with the magic potion and drinks it this time and carries on with his life.
What is disturbing about this scenario? How would you label
that man who just wasted that life-giving magic potion as if it mattered to no
one? Was he proud, arrogant, selfish, cold, plain stupid, senseless, foolish
or crazy? What would you tell him when you meet him in person?
But in a way, isn’t grace like this? It has given us life
when we were on the highway to hell. Jesus dispensed it to us by his death. It
flowed down from Calvary along with the Blood of our Lord. It’s much more
precious than any magic potion made by man.
Then why, do we sin? Why do we give in to temptation and
worldly pleasure when we know that we have God’s grace with us to say no and yet
we trample on it? We begin to feel that our spiritual life has slowed down.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was executed by
the Nazi’s came up with the term ‘cheap grace’. He described it as cheap because it does not consider what it cost God
to make it available for us. “The
more clearly we understand God’s holiness and righteousness, and more we
consider how insistent He is in His word that His children live as holy and
righteous people, the more amazing is the concept of grace. The concept of cheap
grace is develops when we talk about grace before we tremble as God’s holiness”
– Borrowed from Rev. Selwyn Hughes
All the characteristics of this God we serve are connected
in some way. To understand the value of ‘grace’, we need to first tremble
before His ‘Holiness’.
From the 10+ years of experience of having a personal
relationship with Jesus, I realize that sometimes the burden and monotony of
everyday life makes us bury grace. The preciousness of grace when it first
appeared slowly dwindled away. Only a consistent, unrelenting, passionate walk
with God helps us never to lose the understanding of Grace.
The illustration that I have used is a very simple one and
does not compare to the magnitude of His grace which has given us a ticket to
eternity. I wish that my fickle nature is broken and I always value His
precious, amazing and saving grace.
Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did, that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did, that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
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