In the comments to my recent post about remarriage, a friend said
I guess I worry about the statement that grace only goes so far. That’s a dangerous statement to make. Once we go down that path and put limits on God's grace we're traveling down a very slippery slope.
I'm not saying that we don't uphold the standards that God gave us in the Bible but I think we need to understand that God's forgiveness is absolute no matter what we think. As you said it’s not God that can't forgive, it’s us.
Then I read an article from ABC News where a Wheaton College professor has been removed because he just got a divorce from his wife of 20 years. Wheaton College has a policy whereby if a staff member is divorced, the school will consider the circumstances to see if it was for Biblical grounds. In this case, the professor declined to discuss the issue, so he was given a year to find another job. He quit instead.
Just a couple thoughts. First I agree with Sean that neither grace nor God should be limited. To say that grace can only go so far does just that and is in error. However, just because an action or choice is covered by grace, that doesn't mean that they're may not be consequences.
There's a saying that I like "Keep your standards high, but your expectations low." for example when I'm driving my expectation is that you shouldn't cut someone off so I don't, however I do expect that someone else might cut me off. This way, my behavior is still good, however I do not get angry when someone else's isn't. If my expectations of everyone else were high, I'd drive my self nuts with frustration. But I don't lower my standards because then I'd slide down that slippery slope too. I think this phrase applies here as well. The standard is against divorce, but it is expected.
By enforcing this standard practically, we reinforce it mentally as well. For example, if there's a standard about not getting to work late and my boss enforces it, then I am mentally conditioned to get get to work on time. If he doesn't enforce the standard, I am less likely to build discipline in this area. If it's not important to him, why should it be important to me?
In this case, I do not expect that the professor would decide to not divorce his wife solely because he would lose his job if he did so. However, the fact that the school took such a strong practical stand on this issue would have reinforced the teaching to him over the years. Sadly, it was not enough in this case.
In our churches, we should practically enforce the standards that are spelled out in scripture. Where we fail, grace my abound. But to not hold up the standard gives the lesson that it is unimportant and our behavior will worsen as a result.
Just a couple thoughts. First I agree with Sean that neither grace nor God should be limited. To say that grace can only go so far does just that and is in error. However, just because an action or choice is covered by grace, that doesn't mean that they're may not be consequences.
There's a saying that I like "Keep your standards high, but your expectations low." for example when I'm driving my expectation is that you shouldn't cut someone off so I don't, however I do expect that someone else might cut me off. This way, my behavior is still good, however I do not get angry when someone else's isn't. If my expectations of everyone else were high, I'd drive my self nuts with frustration. But I don't lower my standards because then I'd slide down that slippery slope too. I think this phrase applies here as well. The standard is against divorce, but it is expected.
By enforcing this standard practically, we reinforce it mentally as well. For example, if there's a standard about not getting to work late and my boss enforces it, then I am mentally conditioned to get get to work on time. If he doesn't enforce the standard, I am less likely to build discipline in this area. If it's not important to him, why should it be important to me?
In this case, I do not expect that the professor would decide to not divorce his wife solely because he would lose his job if he did so. However, the fact that the school took such a strong practical stand on this issue would have reinforced the teaching to him over the years. Sadly, it was not enough in this case.
In our churches, we should practically enforce the standards that are spelled out in scripture. Where we fail, grace my abound. But to not hold up the standard gives the lesson that it is unimportant and our behavior will worsen as a result.
1 comments:
The term justice comes to mind. God will always have justice. We can do what we want on this earth and maybe get away with it but in the end justice will be done.
God's love and grace are perfect and just. The prodigal son was accepted with open arms by his father but his inheritance that he squandered was not restored. He had a home but there were to be consequences for his actions regardless.
The brother missed the point until his father explained it. Having a few children of my own I'll bet that didn't exactly settle the issue in the brother’s eyes but at least it made sense of it.
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