Grace and Transformation

I'm so glad the terms "conservative" and "liberal" may finally run their course. Current times tend to render both of them useless and limiting, both in politics and in matters of faith.

I've been talking about grace in previous posts. Some who would define themselves as "liberals" in Jesus-following camps like to emphasize grace. However, that can be a limited or cheap form of grace. They talk about Jesus' love for the unlovable, which is most certainly central to the proclamation of the one called Christ. Thieves, corrupt tax collectors, revolutionaries, prostitutes, and those deemed ritually unclean in Jewish practice all found open arms in the carpenter from Nazareth. All are welcome. This is truly grace. However, for some liberal folks, this is where it stays. There's no transformation that follows the embrace of the crucified and risen one. It's like, "Come just as you are, and stay just as you are." Faith and the community of believers are reduced to some kind of a gooey hand-in-hand, singing "kum-ba-ya", in which no one ever becomes a new creature in Christ. Grace without transformation is not the good news of Christ, any more than acceptance and love without recovery is good news for an alcoholic.

On the other hand, some who would call themselves Christian "conservatives" act as if grace depends on transformation. Coming to the Lord becomes a heavy-handed fierce judgement of just how bad we are. The gospel is presented as a demand for good moral behavior alone. If we clean up our act enough, then God will give us grace. (Often this grace ends up being nothing more than a "get-out-0f-hell-free" card, that has nothing to do with a life-changing, personal relationship with Jesus.) No wonder so many people see churches as filled with "perfect" people, looking askance at those who are imperfect, essentially saying, "As soon as you are as perfect as us, then maybe God will extend you grace." Transformation without grace is not the good news of Christ, any more than a lecture on avoiding gunfights is good news to someone dying of a gunshot wound.

Grace and transformation are one seamless whole. To be sure, grace comes first. But grace without transformation is no help, just as transformation without the acceptance of grace in Christ is useless. That's where I am on the river. How about you? I'll see you around the next bend.