More Grace
Posted by James MacDonald on May 15, 2007 08:40 AM | Comments (4)2 Peter 3:18, But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Kathy and I were sitting with one of the original 18 people who started Harvest Bible Chapel on Saturday night after the service. It is the first time in a long time that she had a chance to share her heart with us. What she said to me could not have come at a better time. She said, "I can't believe how much the Lord has grown you in grace; you always had the truth piece but I see so much grace coming out in your teaching." Such a compliment can be too generic to really benefit the hearer so I took some time to reflect on where the 'chisel' has been hitting my hard heart and hopefully it can make you more receptive to the most precious and needed of quantities: grace!
Acts 4:33, And with great power gave the apostles witness . . . and great grace was upon them all.
1) I have a lot more experience with the reality of my own sinful bent and I have no illusions about that same struggle in others. We are all selfish and prideful apart from Christ and it is terrifically difficult to keep doing ministry with the same people unless we are seeking and receiving much grace from the Lord. I pray for grace in me and pray for the wisdom to see it and strengthen it in others.
Matthew 5:25, Come to terms quickly with your adversary.
2) I am quicker to work out a compromise and that requires more grace. Relationships get sideways because someone asks for something we think they don't deserve or takes something we believe was not theirs. Most often the commodities are non-tangible. "You took my dignity." "He will never get my position no matter how hard he tries." "I'm the one who deserves that recognition," etc. Mercy means withholding what is deserved, and grace is giving what is not deserved. Together they are powerful tools to quickly build relational reconciliation. Without them, relational conflict lingers and sours the core of relationships.
Ephesians 4:32, Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
3) I am more committed than ever to heart-felt forgiveness. Without question, the #1 evidence of Christ in us is our readiness to extend that same grace to others. I must be getting old and tired but I don't want to carry the weight of unforgiveness one second longer than I have to. Nothing is more important to me than having my heart clean and contrite before the Lord. Of course that joy is impossible in a heart that is filled with resentment and bitterness toward a person we believe has wronged us.
It is now more than 18 years since Kathy and I started Harvest with those 18 people. 12 of the original 18 left the church after 18 months, two have gone to heaven, leaving only four. But by God's grace I not only have the same wife and family (sadly, many in ministry cannot say even that) but I also have the same elder board chairman, the same associate pastor, the same personal assistant, etc. I wish I could tell you that my most ardent adversaries have been outside the church but they have not. I wish I could say that the people I have most often had to forgive were the banker and the baker, but fact is, most often it's the believer on my right and left that I am having to make peace with. I have a long way to go, but I know where I am headed. I want to be like Jesus--FULL of GRACE and FULL of TRUTH. That is the glory of knowing and growing in Jesus Christ.
james
PS: I have raised some big issues here. If you want to study deeper I would strongly urge you to get the teaching series, Always Resolve Everything Now and the booklet, Freedom through Forgiveness. They dig much more deeply into the biblical basis for and the immense joy of expressing and experiencing God's grace!
Comments
Posted by: Gloria | May 20, 2007 12:27 PM
I sometimes feel at a loss on how to teach and reach a very strong willed loved one on how to show mercy and grace to those who have wronged and hurt them relationally.
Posted by: Matt | May 21, 2007 12:08 AM
James,
I appreciate this post about grace. You have communicated so clearly the need to have both grace AND truth. One without the other is imbalanced. So much of your teaching is about reaching that balance....I really think there's a book in there somewhere---about the need to avoid extremes theologically and practically speaking.
God bless you on your trip to Romania, James!
Posted by: Jan | May 21, 2007 03:33 PM
Amen and ditto to what Gloria said. Praise God that forgiveness isn't an area that I've struggled with, but it can be hard to communicate this freedom to "strong-willed loved ones." I just bought "Always Resolve Everything Now." Will listen to it and then pass it on.
Posted by: Annette | May 27, 2007 11:38 AM
This is area I've strugggled with for many years, which included much avoidance, after suffering much pain. Guess what? I still had to deal with the issues, which I absolutely did not know how to handle. Then, I found your book, I Really Want to Change, So Help Me God. That book has revolutionized my life. It has given me the boldness and confidence that I've always had but was buried beneath shame and condemnation. I am growing in the grace and knowledge of the in leaps and bounds. I AM FREE! I am the righteousness of God in Christ. Pastor James, thank you!