What's So Reckless About Grace?--Part 1

The tag-line for our church is: Following Jesus on the bold, daring, reckless adventure of grace. I chose those particular words early on in Community of Grace's history after reading David Murrow's book, Why Men Hate Going to Church. I was struck by the soft words I had used originally to describe grace; words like unconditional love, acceptance, mercy, compassion, etc.--powerful pictures of grace to be sure. But they tell only part of the story. As I read Murrow's book, and began to reflect on Luke 15, including the story of the Prodigal Son, I began to see a tougher, side to grace as well (special thanks to Kenneth Bailey and his fantastic research on Luke 15--check out Amazon.com.)

In the story of the Prodigal Son we see a dad who throws caution and reputation to the wind to save the son who publicly shamed him. In the story of the lost sheep the shepherd recklessly seeks out one lost lamb, risking death to carry that heavy lamb home on his shoulders over a dangerous path. (Bailey tells us that in the early
history of the church, the cross was too vivid a symbol for the Gospel. They were too close to it. They saw people hanging on crosses every day. So the Gospel was captured in the symbol of the shepherd carrying an over sized lamb. That, for them, was the essence of the cross!) In part
2 of the Prodigal Son the dad publicly shames himself by going out to his obstinate first born rather than demanding the first born come to him, as custom required.

The Prodigal Son not only tells the story of unconditional love offered to two undeserving sons, it paints grace as bold, daring, and reckless. In the days, weeks, and months to come I want to tease out that side of grace and how it meshes with our usual presentations of grace. I want to explore how both sides of grace can impact our lives and churches. I want to plumb the amazing, reckless depths of God's grace, best seen on a cross, of all places. More to come