By David ReayFriday 28 Feb 2020LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. (NLT)
It is sadly possible to speak of grace gracelessly. A preacher who dangles hearers over the fires of hell to get them to appreciate grace. A Christian apologist who is more concerned to win an argument than to see someone embrace Jesus. An everyday follower of Jesus who looks down from their own morally superior height on other miserable wretches.
Grace can be seen as something like horrible castor oil. It will do some good but it means being utterly miserable as we absorb the remedy for what is wrong with us. Or to put it more theologically, we can so focus on sin that the grace that deals with it is somehow secondary. We might be loved by God, but it is a reluctant love offered through pursed lips and gritted teeth.
Of course grace only has meaning set against the reality of human sin. It is good news of mercy because it is offered in the context of not-so-good news of our desperate need of that mercy. But as our text reminds us, we are not to speak of grace without graciousness. Our verbal witness becomes a religious formality if we have not tasted that amazing grace ourselves and let it transform what we think of ourselves and others.
Bashing people over the head by reminding them how bad they are means grace becomes a mere footnote to the gospel. Our primary message is that we are loved by God and yet much in need of that love.
Blessings
David