Where Does Grace Go?
by Jarrett Stevens
Theologically speaking, Grace is the Game Changer of the Christian Faith. It is one of the Quintessential Key Distinctives of the Christian Faith. The fact that while we absolutely deserve nothing from God, he extends and offers himself to us, even in our darkest and most desperate state…that changes everything.
There’s infinitely more to say here about the Reality of Grace. We could spend a lifetime…and all of Eternity. But the point of this post is not to explore the Definition of Grace, but the Destination.
When it comes to the idea of a Holy and Perfect God offering his life and love to you and I…
When it comes to the idea of Sin being Forgiven…
When it comes to the idea of Grace…
Where Does it go?
For most people the Reality of Grace tends to occupy one of three destinations
The Head
The Heart
The Hands
The Head – You understand the concept, can probably even communicate it well, but have a harder time fully receiving it and offering it to others. You have probably been going to church for a very long time.
The Heart – You have no problem receiving it but live largely unaware of the cost, the price, the sacrifice of Grace. Grace is also something you have no problem experiencing for yourself, but tend to keep it for yourself.
The Hands – You love helping people, serving people, making sure everyone else is taken care of, but it is often a subtle attempt to “earn” grace” which by it’s very definition can not be earned.
God’s ultimate desire for you is that you would Understand, Experience, and Extend His Grace as freely as you have received it from God. That’s how you were created to live, but the reality is, many of us don’t.
So, where does Grace go with you? Head. Heart. Hands. Where do you sense God is inviting you to experience his Grace more in this season? What do you need to do about it?
JARRETT grew up in the East Bay of San Francisco. He worked at Willow Creek Community Church for 12 years as a Teaching Pastor for AXIS before moving to Atlanta to work with North Point Church. While there, Jarrett worked as the Singles Pastor and as leader and communicator for 7|22. He’s the author of The Deity Formerly Known as God as well as the upcoming title, Four Small Words. You can connect with Jarrett on the Soul City Church site, Soul City Blog, Facebook , or Twitter.
You can read all of the posts in the Grace Week Series here.
Great post… I can see how Grace goes to all three of those areas in my life at one time or another. The “hands” is where Grace goes the most for me. I definitely needed to read this today!
Grace week. I’m going to keep that in mind. In a waiting kind of way…
extending grace is probably one of the hardest things for me to do. im a reactionary person – so the grace part typically follows too far down the road. it is something i work on daily.
I love this post. As, I said in the video I often struggle with grace. I’ve come to a place where I can accept grace from God and from others without guilt or the feeling that I need to “perform” in order to earn it. My biggest challenge is extending grace to others – unmerited. This is especially true with church people who, if I can confess, often irritate me. Craig Gross and Jason Harper have a chapter in their Jesus Loves You book titled Jesus loves the Religious that talks about this. I recommend it!
I’d place myself squarely in the ‘head’ camp. I desperately need to experience grace in my heart and to extend it to others without trying to earn it. This post is spot on. And yes, I have been going to church for a very long time.
Extending grace puts me in a sort of dilemma. On the one hand, I know I’ll never be “righteous” enough to earn God’s favor. On the other hand, faith without works is dead. It’s honestly beyond my power to have good works flow naturally out of my own experience with grace the way He intends it. “With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”