Like comedy, grace is hard

As I watch and participate in what goes on in life, I realize why so many people prefer to live in judgement than walk in grace.  Judgement can be quick and painless.  Grace requires a systemic view of life.  Trying to decide what's evil or good under grace causes migraines and aneurisms if it is at all possible.  Judgement, on the other hand, is is clear cut... even if you are wrong.  Hey, at least you took a position, right?

While a judgmental lifestyle is not limited to the religious crowd (just talk to someone from Greenpeace, PETA or anyone in either major political party) it is easier for a religious person to be judgmental.  If you see or hear of something that offends you you can rationalize that the offensive thing is "an affront to God" and therefore be justified in your position.  Without a "Higher Authority" justification, all you have is the position that whoever disagrees with you is just stupid.  Telling someone they are going to hell for their position is not quite as offensive as telling them they are stupid.  The latter will get you punched in the nose.  The former just gets you laughed at.

From a Christian perspective, however, (as opposed to a religious perspective) a judgmental lifestyle is counterproductive.  Christians have been given the responsibility of "preaching the Good News" to all the world, the news being that God has already forgiven them for everything they have ever done or ever will do that can be considered a sin ... by anyone ... including God.  But putting conditions on what constitutes "Christian behavior" has been part of the church condition since, oh, say the establishment of the church in Galatia in the first century.

Today, we have the same problem as then.  We like to say that we need to avoid involvement in certain practices if we want to be "really Christian," and we have all kinds of different flavors of that attitude, ranging from not wearing makeup for women, to not going to certain movies or reading certain books, all the way to political positions - on both sides of the political fence.  The reasoning for this is that you have to be careful what you put into your mind and body because bad stuff might spill out.  Jesus had a bit of a different position on that:

"It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." New American Standard Bible (©1995)

We also tend to take it to the place of who we associate with, saying we shouldn't be around certain people because their lifestyles could pollute us.  Jesus had something to say about that too:

"The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look! He's a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'" International Standard Version (©2008)

So you can see that the judgmental lifestyle, while much easier doesn't really hold much water in an eternal perspective.  Grace, on the other hand, is just a real pain in the ... neck.

I have a friend whom I love dearly who I led to Christ many years ago.  She had somethign of a wild lifestyle but was very unhappy.  I remember sitting with her late at night aside a hotel pool during the convention we met at and walking her through a prayer of forgiveness.  It was beautiful.  

She got pregnant shortly after that and had an abortion.  I stayed with her and told her she had already been forgiven.  Happened again a few years later.  I stayed with her and told her she had already been forgiven.  She moved away, got a new boyfriend and got pregnant again.  This time she kept it, but was a single mother for a long time.  I kept telling her about Gods forgiveness.  She finally found a good man.  Got married.  Has a great marriage.  Just had another baby.

Here's the thing.  If I had been normal through this relationship, she would never have felt she could come to me about anything.  I'm not a fan of abortion, or sex outside of marriage, but that's my opinion and my life.  How God deals with me is completely different from how he deals with anyone else.  I can only be concerned with God's grace for me and when I am in a relationship, I can only be concerned with how I exhibit that grace.  That means I am in it for the long, very messy haul.

Sometimes I wish I didn't really get the whole grace thing.  I don't really.  But I get enough that I can't be comfortable with the judgement thing.  My life would be a lot easier.  I would get to hang with people who have really simple, seemingly black-and-white lifestyles.  But I have to admit, hanging with "tax collectors and sinners" is a whole lot more entertaining.