Gospel of Grace

I am "reading" two books right now - Stripped: Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas by Jud Wilhite and The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. I say "reading" because I am listening to an audio version of Manning's book while driving the car.

Both books discuss the nature of grace and the misunderstanding many Christians and non-Christians have about this attribute of God.

The questions are timeless: what does grace really look like? What does it mean to hate the sin but love the sinner? How am I supposed to love those who continue to sin day in and day out with seemingly no regret or remorse?

Jud talks about this in his book...how his view of grace was rocked by a few sentences by C.S. Lewis.

Lewis stated that there is someone each of us loves even though we don't always approve of what they do. There is someone we accept even though we don't like all of their actions.

That someone is me. No...not me, Chris Genders, but each one of us.

We don't always approve of everything we do, but we still love ourselves. We don't always like all of our actions, but we accept ourselves.

If we can extend grace to ourselves who continue to sin day in and day out, we had better extend grace to others. We need to find a way to look past their sins - whether they be sins of intention or sins of ignorance - and extend the love of God to every man, woman, and child who was made in the image of God. After all, this is what God did when he extended his love to us.

1 John 4:7-10
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

I'm Sorry I'm So Cheap

The following is a great article from Jarrod Jones. I received this in the most recent e-newsletter from Relevant magazine...

I sat in a coffee shop the other day minding my own business. I had a cup of joe at arm’s length, my face buried in my laptop, a newspaper folded to my right, and a Bible sitting to my left. I was looking busy and religious. People came and went as always, and I paid no attention until I overheard a patron say to the barista, “Can I order a cup of hot water?” It shocked me a bit. Who has the guts to order a cup of hot water at a coffee shop where people are spending five bucks for lattes and macchiatos?

After rolling my eyes, I turned to see what character I’d discover. He appeared to be in his mid-20s. He didn’t look thoroughly homeless, but close. His clothes looked like they hadn’t been washed in a couple of days. It seemed he hadn’t showered either. I noticed that the barista was taken back a tad by his request too. The guy sensed it, no doubt, because he sheepishly said, “I’m sorry I’m so cheap.” His words softened me, but I was still suspicious.

Hot water in hand, he walked over to the island counter, which provided the sweeteners, half-and-half, skim and whole milks, honey and so forth. Unwillingly, I caught his eye. I looked away, burying my face deeper into my laptop. From the sound of things behind me, he was producing his own drink concoction. He sat down directly in front of me, a little to my right, about three feet away. His choice of seating made me think, “He’s calculating his move. Any minute now will come the sob story.”

I was obsessed with skepticism. I was convinced he was setting me up—my leather briefcase-toting, cell-phone-addicted, laptop-hypnotized, coffee-sipping, spoiled-rotten Christian self—for a handout.

He began skimming through the pages of a book. I lifted my head from behind my laptop, peered over his shoulder and noticed words on the page like “attitude, success, achievement, strength.” Then I watched him slowly raise the cup to his mouth, pause and take a sip of his hot water. And that did it. Suddenly, a stereotype shift occurred in me. The curtain lifted to reveal that I was the stereotypical one—a self-absorbed, cynical-thinking, judgment-bearing, Bible-toting Christian. On my throne I had singled him out and analyzed negatively his every move. I labeled him and judged him. I was the “cheap” one.

The Lord emptied my heart of cynicism and filled it with compassion. Then He took i t a step further. He pressed me to put hands to His compassion. “Jarrod, talk to him.” I’m not one to say that God audibly talks to me, but I felt a heavy pressing of His Spirit on my heart. I confess with regret and disgrace that I didn’t. I exited the coffee shop after a quick trip to the restroom. With every step I took toward my Explorer and away from the coffee shop, the Lord’s pressing words faded.

Jesus had uncrossed my folded arms of judgment and placed in my hands soothing waters of compassion. The Spirit wanted to quench his thirst, and instead I quenched the Spirit. “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water … truly I tell you, that person will certainly be rewarded,” Jesus said (Matthew 10:42, TNIV). Cold water soothes. Hot water burns. Cold water quenches a thirst; hot water mocks it. I not only missed an opportunity to present him something better than hot water, I denied him a hand out of it.

Offering cold water is not just an opportunity to share the Gospel with words, but to share the Gospel with hands. Had I to do it over again, I would have invited him to my table, bought him a grande cup of bold and sweet coffee, chatted with him about March Madness maybe and inspired him in his pursuits. If he was game, I would have set up a time to meet again and take him to lunch. I would have bought that book for him following our conversation and dropped it onto his table as I headed out the door. With his heart encouraged, his trust assured and his stomach full, I would have offered him the priceless One, the One who quenches the deepest thirst, Jesus. But I completely missed it. I left him thirsty.

Have you noticed anybody “thirsty”? Just look at the office or desk or cubicle or table next to you. There are thirsty people everywhere, longing for cold, living water. They’re not thirsty just to hear about it, but to taste the spiritual living water overflowing from our lives. I’m going back to that coffee shop next week, and the next. I hope to see him again. If I do, a cup of cold, living water and a hot latte will be waiting for him. And then, seeing him through the eyes of Jesus instead of the eyes of judgment, I want to tell him, “I’m sorry I was so cheap.”

Author: Jarrod Jones

Jarrod Jones is the author of The Backward Life (Baker/Revell). You can visit his website at www.jarrodjones.com.

Las Vegas

I am back home and back in the groove of life in the greater Chicago-land area after an amazing time in Las Vegas. It truly was a joy to "do life" with my friend and mentor, Loren Trethewey, and his wife, Deanna, for four consecutive days and nights.

All of our previous mentoring times were 1-2 hours at the most. This was non-stop conversation from the time we got up until the time we went to bed. It truly was a relaxing, refreshing, encouraging, inspiring, educational, and challenging time.

Aside from the intense conversations I had with Loren & Deanna, the highlights from the trip include...

• seeing the Strip in person - especially the fountains at the Bellagio and the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris casinoe
• touring Hoover Dam - what an amazing piece of human construction
• hiking and rock-scrambling in Red Rock Canyon - I could have spent hours in this place
• visiting Central Christian Church and seeing what God is doing through this church to reach out to the unloved and overlooked
• conversations with Chris Trethewey and other leaders at Central as we hashed out universal and cultural leadership principles and swapped resource recommendations

I cannot wait for another opportunity to travel west. And, yes, Loren & Deanna...Karen and the kids will be coming with me for the next visit!

Las Vegas

I am in Las Vegas this morning sitting at the table of my good friends and mentors, Loren & Deanna Trethewey. I arrived last night after an uneventful flight from Chicago. I will be here for a few more days - visiting a local church, sitting at the feet of my mentors, and sharing stories about my family and the church.

It was somewhat surreal to see The Strip in downtown Las Vegas in person after seeing it for so many years in movies and on TV (CSI, of course) and in print-media. We will be heading down there one night this week to see it up close and personal.

Before I left Chicago, there were all of the pre-requisite jokes about traveling to Vegas... particularly for a pastor...

"There's a religious town for a pastor to visit."
"People pray in Vegas...every time they place a bet!"
"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

There is definitely a sense of detachment from the normal routine of life for many of the people who come to Vegas. That was evident from the number of people around me on the plane talking about all of the "fun" they are going to have while they are here. I sensed in some of these people that this trip is a completely different experience than if they were heading to the Caribbean or some other warm, exotic place. (For some people the experience is probably the same no matter where they go...)

For a couple of people sitting near me on the plane, though, I detected a desire to fully embrace a hedonistic, self-gratifying, regret-nothing-that-happens experience. A true embodiment of the "what happens here stays here" mindset.

I realize that not all people who come here have that desire, but my instincts are telling me that it doesn't take long for some people to adopt that mindset once they are here in Vegas.

Loren & Deanna showed me a book their pastor, Judd Wilhite at Central Christian Church, wrote about the stories of life-change that have occurred in the church here in Vegas. The back of the book states that once you read these stories, you will begin to see Vegas as "grace city" rather than "sin city." I am looking forward to reading the book in the future.

I will try to post more entries as the trip goes on...