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| Grace is a free gift from God that we don’t deserve and can never earn. As Philip Yancey says, “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less” (70). That truly is a cause for delight and rejoicing, but the problem is that most young people don’t think of pleasure or delight when the word church is mentioned. I would guess that their first thoughts would more likely be along the lines of boring, stuffy, or holier–than–thou. I think the reason is that many of us have simply not come to a clear understanding of grace. Have we ever really stopped and examined the ministry of Jesus? Have we ever noticed that he went out of his way to spend time with and minister to the “scumbags” of society? He even hung out with the tax collectors and “sinners,” but when the Pharisees confronted him about his behavior, he replied: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick… For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt 9:12–13). Jesus’ desire was for the lost, the messy, and the rejects of society. Is that our focus as well? I’m sure many of us have heard the old adage, “You have to catch a fish first before you can clean it.” While that may not be the most theologically sound statement, because we should not try to “catch” the lost, I believe it is true that most of us want them to clean up their act before they start coming to church. After all, church/youth group can get messy when people start bringing their problems. Plus, it’s hard work to walk with and minister to a young person who has a lot of “baggage” and issues to work through. But if we don’t, who will? Walk with them we must. We need to teach them about grace by first experiencing grace ourselves, and then modeling it for them. So what does grace look like? One of the greatest stories of grace ever told is the parable of “The Lost Son,” in Luke 15:11–32. In this parable it is only after the younger of two sons has disowned and dishonored his father, and “13squandered his inheritance in dissolute living,” that he finds himself at rock–bottom and decides to come back and beg his father for mercy. Continued... |
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