GRACE

I've been pondering my Cardboard Testimony so here it is:

LEGALISTIC

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EMBRACING GRACE

You might remember from when I shared my story in home group way back when that one subject that has really stumped me is grace. I’ve been thinking about grace and what it means and how it applies for months now. I remember my church experience growing up being super legalistic and not ever hearing a message of grace. When I really started questioning things a few months ago, grace was the first subject I wanted to tackle. I sought out some help on the subject from some very knowledgeable (and patient) friends who really helped me to understand what it is - God’s unmerited favor that we don’t deserve, but receive anyway (see Ephesians, Romans 6). I get that, but I find myself from time to time really struggling with the why. Why do we get it? And, how does it really work in our day to day lives? Because, God shows us grace, we’re supposed to extend grace to others. Here’s an example - there is a guy at work who I constantly butt heads with over any number of things. So how do I extend grace to this guy that has been a constant headache? I was talking with a friend a while back and was telling her that I was trying to figure out how this plays out and she says to me, “There’s a difference in showing grace and being a doormat.” I asked her if she’d just called me a doormat and she insisted she hadn’t, but I was amused anyway. A thought to ponder - what’s the line between extending grace and being a doormat?

Matt did a sermon a couple of weeks ago (Luke Part 19 on iTunes) where he talked about legalism vs. license which I could identify with so much. If you have a legalistic background, that is really hard to break free from - super hard. “Right” and “wrong” are so engrained in my mind that I find myself constantly questioning, constantly struggling to break free of that mind set. When you are so caught up on following the rules, you can’t really have a relationship with God - you have a relationship the rules.

Some examples from my experience would be:
Music - I recall as if it were yesterday a youth group Sunday School lesson in which our teacher talked to us about the dangers of “secular music.” I loved Matt’s take on that. Music doesn’t have a soul - it can’t be Christian or non-Christian - it can be about God or about anything else.
Movies - I couldn’t watch anything rated over PG as a senior in high school. Enough said.
Alcohol - Don’t even think about it. Alcohol leads to babies. I mean, one drink of that stuff and you’d just be unable to control yourself.

Matt said in his sermon that a lot of people who grew up in a legalistic environment decide pretty much that if this is what Christianity is, they didn’t want any part of it. “George Barna, Josh McDowell and others have statistics stating that 85% of teens raised in evangelical churches in America stop attending church in their late teens and early 20's.***” That was me. Every once in a while I’d go to church out of pure obligation, but it was years before I went consistently - still feeling like “I should be doing this.” It wasn’t until The Village, actually, that I wanted to go. I look forward to going to church and to home group and anywhere else I can learn and grow in my relationship with God now.

And, on the other end of the spectrum is license where people do whatever they want and think that anyone who questions that is a legalist. This one I have less experience with (as noted by the novel I wrote above on legalism).

So, if it is true that we tend to walk one way or the other, how do we find the middle ground?

***Quote borrowed from:
http://theworldfrommywindow.blogspot.com/2006/08/survey-question-why-are-teens-leaving.html