Grace and honesty

In his book Manning takes aim at those "so-called Christians who disfigure the face of God, mutilate the gospel of grace, and intimidate others through fear." He finds it unthinkable that the church rejects those who are accepted by Jesus. Jesus loves those whom the Father loves. If Jesus accepts sinners then God accepts sinners – and He does. How can any of us enter the Kingdom except that God accepts us in our sinful state? (See Romans 5:8 if this troubles you.)

Grace calls out: …You are not just a disillusioned old man who may die soon…A middle-aged woman stuck in a job and desperately wanting to get out…A young person feeling the fire in the belly begin to grow cold.

You may be insecure, inadequate, mistaken, or potbellied. …Death, panic, depression, and disillusionment may be near you. …But you are not just that. You are accepted. Never confuse your perception of yourself with the mystery that you really are accepted. …Grace is so simple it confounds the wise. …Many just don't get it. They either don't believe it ("we must author our own salvation") or they think we don't need to do anything to receive it ("everybody is saved regardless of whether they want to be"). ……I have encountered shocking resistance to the God whom the Bible defines as Love. The sceptics range from the oily, over polite professionals who discreetly drop hints of the heresy of universalism, to the Bible thumper who sees only the dusty, robust war God of the Pentateuch, and who insists on restating the cold demands of rule-ridden perfectionism. (pp.36-7 The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manningm)

Perhaps grace is not something we can easily catch from a Sunday sermon. …Perhaps grace comes to us better through story and intervention. …In that case, grace-preachers ought to be story-tellers

The sooner we stop pretending that we have it all together and start loving each other for who we really are the better

The only way to receive grace is to be honest about your ongoing need for it. But I have to disagree with the conclusion that in Christ we are just "saved sinners" or "sinners saved by grace." I was a sinner, but when Christ came into my life the old went and the new came. I'm not claiming sinless perfection. I am claiming a new identity in Christ. I am saying that grace changes us and that it is dishonest to talk about ourselves as though we are still who we used to be. (I am not a sinner because I sin , I sin because I am a sinner)

Honesty brings an end to pretense through a candid acknowledgment of our fragile humanity. It was always unpleasant, and usually painful, and that is why I am not very good at it. But to stand in the truth before God and one another has a unique reward. It is the reward which a sense of reality always brings. I know something extremely precious. I am in touch with myself as I am. My tendency to play the pseudo messiah is torpedoed. (p.138)

Grace changes us

Honesty keeps us real but believers operate in two realities – the world of the flesh and the world of the spirit. Honesty is the lesser of these realities. …Focus on self and sin and you'll end up self-conscious and sin-conscious. …This is not the way forward. There's no grace in your navel. …Whatever your problem the solution is not to take a long hard look at yourself and your faults, but to fix your eyes on Jesus and His wholeness.…Yes, you are just a crumbly jar of clay, but you have a great treasure inside! Treasure the Treasure.… If you are looking for more reality in your community life , we should understand the furious love of God, and the life that we share in Christ and understand that the grace of God is truly transformative – it can change you from something you are into something you are not. (I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a tea cup than try and comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God)…Jesus heals cripples. He delivers the oppressed and depressed and raises the dead. If He can do all those things then He can heal alcoholics and deal with whatever other problems you are facing.

Understand that I am NOT passing judgment on anyone who enjoys a drink. I am saying that grace and unbelief don't mix. If you don't think He can heal you, guess what, He probably won't. …Go around telling people that you are this and that and you speak death over yourself. You will experience a self-fulfilling prophecy. I don't recommend you do that. Instead, agree with what Jesus says about you. You were a sinner, now you are a saint. You are not a saint because you act like it; you begin to act like it because it's who you are in Christ (see 1 Cor. 1:30).