When it comes to theology and to practice, grace is sometimes ignored. Yes, of course, those who ignore grace believe in it but either their theology or the practice ignores it. Others use grace against others, what I call grace grinding. That is, grace is used to drive home and drill in to another that they are not worthy of God’s grace. Instead of having a positive theology grace here is entirely negative. Others see grace as a
Very interesting! (With or without Hogan’s Heroes’ Sgt. Schultz characterization 😀)
In a sense defining grace is like defining God.
Could “God is Grace, and, Grace is God” also be another starting point, or re-positioning point?
Is “no-till” farming like grace, or is tilling the fields more like an application of grace?
Once upon a time, I asked a friend, who’s an artist and art teacher: “What do you do with someone like me, who has hardly any artistic talent?” I’ll never forget his answer: “I love students like you. If I ask the class to draw a car, the ‘talented’ artists will usually give me an exact replica of a car. But, somebody like you will give me a unique creation of a car!”
I have used that story as an illustration of grace as God accepting our earnest effort every moment, and always welcoming “another try”.
Some years ago I recognized that grace is an abstract concept that needs concrete application. So I crafted a definition that I have found useful even though it is far from comprehensive. Grace is the gift of God that enables the people of God to fulfill the will of God.
Thank you for reading through this book. I’ve read sections of it. Comprehensive for sure. I like your use of themes of grace versus perfections (that word confuses me).
I wasn’t sure, Scot, where Trevor’s quote fits in: grace grinding, grace religion or something different.
This is interesting and a great starting point, Scot. I'd love to see some more on the topic from you, and perhaps mainly I need to read the Barclay book. (I'm still a slow reader; 40 years of editing has made that of me, and there are negatives and positives to that abililty/disability.)
My first thought on reading this was that "grace" is a much more relational word than it's typically defined. That is, it's presented in the "grinding" version as top-down (only), hierarchical, and although we humans can't pretend that our relationship with God is non-hierarchical, there's a different flavor that comes out from this description. Reminds me that the First Testament background is "chesed," which is all about the strength of a relationship. Still thinking about this. Thanks for the great stimulation!
Very interesting! (With or without Hogan’s Heroes’ Sgt. Schultz characterization 😀)
In a sense defining grace is like defining God.
Could “God is Grace, and, Grace is God” also be another starting point, or re-positioning point?
Is “no-till” farming like grace, or is tilling the fields more like an application of grace?
Once upon a time, I asked a friend, who’s an artist and art teacher: “What do you do with someone like me, who has hardly any artistic talent?” I’ll never forget his answer: “I love students like you. If I ask the class to draw a car, the ‘talented’ artists will usually give me an exact replica of a car. But, somebody like you will give me a unique creation of a car!”
I have used that story as an illustration of grace as God accepting our earnest effort every moment, and always welcoming “another try”.
Thank you for another great day-starter!
Some years ago I recognized that grace is an abstract concept that needs concrete application. So I crafted a definition that I have found useful even though it is far from comprehensive. Grace is the gift of God that enables the people of God to fulfill the will of God.
Thank you for reading through this book. I’ve read sections of it. Comprehensive for sure. I like your use of themes of grace versus perfections (that word confuses me).
I wasn’t sure, Scot, where Trevor’s quote fits in: grace grinding, grace religion or something different.
This is interesting and a great starting point, Scot. I'd love to see some more on the topic from you, and perhaps mainly I need to read the Barclay book. (I'm still a slow reader; 40 years of editing has made that of me, and there are negatives and positives to that abililty/disability.)
My first thought on reading this was that "grace" is a much more relational word than it's typically defined. That is, it's presented in the "grinding" version as top-down (only), hierarchical, and although we humans can't pretend that our relationship with God is non-hierarchical, there's a different flavor that comes out from this description. Reminds me that the First Testament background is "chesed," which is all about the strength of a relationship. Still thinking about this. Thanks for the great stimulation!