Consistent Grace Changes the World

I was watching a documentary about the U.S. Presidents over the weekend and saw a photo of President Reagan wearing a tan-colored suit. No big deal. But remember when President Obama wore a tan suit in 2014 and was criticized for it?

We’ve all heard over and over again what might have happened if those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 had been Black or Muslim instead of predominantly White and Christian. I have no doubt that more than five people would have died that day.

We are politically inconsistent. We criticize, if not condemn, people with whom we disagree politically for doing what our own political side has done.  Late night comedians point this out in their opening stand ups but most of us don’t care. We offer grace to those who agree with us and we excoriate our political foes.  And sometimes we are all in the same Church.

I’ve had parishioners decry certain choices until those choices have shown up in their own families: 

• The anti-abortion mom who changed her mind when her own daughter faced that choice.
• The family who said that divorce could never be an option for Christian families until one of their own family members made that choice.
• The parents who judged the parents of a child who struggled with addiction until their own child struggled with addiction.

Imagine a world in which we offered consistent grace to our political adversaries, to our theological foes, and to those people we judge.  Jesus modeled lavish grace to everyone, including those who executed him and including us.

I disagree with a lot of people about many things.  And yet, consistent grace is what I’m called to offer them because Jesus offers it to me. 

This doesn’t mean that anything goes.  It means that God is God and we are not. And sometimes we condemn each other for the fundamental politics of it.  It’s a waste of our precious time.

Let’s be gracious out there.

Image source.