I read your November 6th blog entry (I read them all and check back almost daily). After reading it, something in the next blog on my daily reading list caught my attention; I see a correlation.
"Reason #3 we talk about grace is because it threatens the self-righteous. This is a good thing. Self-righteous people, whether they are unsaved and don't think they need a savior, or already saved and prideful-- are threatened by grace because it erases any merit from human comparisons. People actually love to be reminded that 'nobody's perfect' because misery loves company, and because once we grow comfortable with imperfection, standards for greatness revolve around comparing our lives to the lives of other people. No one in this camp would ever admit it, but they are secretly grateful for the Hitlers and Stalins of the world. They allow us to feel so much better about ourselves. Grace, however, does not allow such self-satisfaction. Needing grace forces us to accept the truth about ourselves, that since the standard is absolute perfection rather than comparative goodnes, we need saving just as much as a Saddam Hussein did. That Mother Theresa needed rescuing just as much as Osama Bin Laden does. And this is always painful. But it is also always necessary-- "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6)."
Perhaps our church's problem resides in the self-righteous' reaction to the "outside," which, as Josh (the above blogger) points out is a bit of a co-dependent relationship. If the heathens or other "offenders" come to the full realization Grace, which induces Faith, than the self-righteous system falls apart. In a nutshell, some must be denied grace in order for self-righteousness to propagate. Therefore, if I allow full grace to someone and validate it with unhindered, no-strings-attached, bread breaking or celebration, I condemn and validate my own sin, which, in a system with no grace, is a scary place; live by the sword, die by the sword.
Just a thought.
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