According to his critics, Jesus "did God" all wrong. He went to the wrong places, said the wrong things, and worst of all, let just anyone into the kingdom. Jesus scandalized an intimidating, elitist, country-club religion by opening membership in the spiritual life to those who had been denied it. What made people furious was Jesus' "irresponsible" habit of throwing open the doors of his love to the whosoevers, the just-any-ones, and the not-a-chancers like you and me.
Nothing makes people in the church more angry than grace. It's ironic: we stumble into a party we weren't invited to and find the uninvited standing at the door making sure no other uninviteds get in. Then a strange phenomenon occurs: as soon as we are included in the party because of Jesus' irresponsible love, we decide to make grace "more responsible" by becoming self-appointed Kingdom Monitors, guarding the kingdom of God, keeping the riffraff out, which, as I understand it, are who the kingdom of God is supposed to include).
-Messy Spirituality, p 47 (bold emphasis mine)
I worry that Christians have a habit of making grace "more responsible." I remember once when I served in a previous church, a teenager in our church brought her boyfriend to church on a Sunday morning. This young man may have never been to church, as far as I know, and I was glad he was there. Our church had two services, and we had a "fellowship hour" between services where we would all enjoy snacks together. While I was enjoying a snack that morning between services in the fellowship hall, a man (who was also on the church board) pulled me aside and sternly instructed me, "Tell that young man to take his hat off!" I was taken aback and explained that it was his first Sunday here, and that he was a guest. "I don't care," the board member huffed. "He needs to learn that you don't wear a hat inside the church."
The conversation ended when I informed the board member that I was glad the young man was even in church--hat or no hat--and that I was not going to ask him to remove his hat. The exchange still bristles against me years later, but it also makes me a little fearful. Sure, I held my ground about a simple hat, but I wonder: In what ways have I had a habit of making grace "more responsible"? As a youth pastor, do I allow teenagers to come to Jesus as they are, or do I stand at the door as a self-appointed Kingdom Monitor?
I've got a pretty sizable library of books on youth ministry, leadership, and philosophy of ministry. I read a lot of blogs, listen to a lot of podcasts and sermons, and I try to add my own voice to the mix. Much of the stuff I read (and write) has to do with how to run programs, how to counsel students, and how to be a ministry leader. But I have a growing hunch that none of those things really get to the center of where churches often fall short. If we could just learn that Jesus' "irresponsible love" is open to anyone who would accept it--and really live that out--I believe that the programs we run, the way we "do" ministry would just be secondary and increasingly unimportant details. Wouldn't it be great if our churches were so dripping with Jesus' irresponsible love and prodigal grace that it wouldn't matter how good our programs or worship were--people would just want to be a part of it because they had never heard of or experienced that kind of love before?
Just some thoughts for your Thursday morning.
