Good Isn't Grace Enough

YouTube can educate, entertain, elate, and frustrate. It is the visual branch of the internet in its purist (or not so purist) form; it contains anything you can think of. Want to find out how to change a battery on a 2014 Chrysler 200? YouTube it. Want to see if Michael Moore ever made a documentary on Disco? YouTube it. I was surfing YouTube one day and came across something that was a few years old but it piqued my interest: a message to Christians.

The message was honest, sincere and forthright. Simply produced and well done. The main concern and motivation for the post seemed to be the judgmental attitude Christians. Well, here, I'll let you decide what you think then I'll comment.

Here's the transcript:

<A Girl's Message To All Christians

Hey there! I'm Emanuella. I'm a Christian. I have been a "good" Christian most of my life. It was my identity. I used to like to tell people how "good" I was, how I kept all the Commandments. I thought that was "Good"......

Then I realized something...I Failed!!! "Christian" was just a name I wore...kind of like a pretty coat over a dirty body...It didn't match my heart. Here's why:

If you were an Atheist or Agnostic or anything else...And if you didn't agree with me...I would disdain you as a person. I feel like a hypocrite! I feel disgusting! And I can't take it anymore! I wasn't interested in being your "Friend". I just wanted to change you. I thought that was my job. 

Christianity is about being like "Christ". Jesus loved everyone, First. If they didn't accept what He said, He still loved them. Its not my job to change you, I can't. But its my job to love you. That I can.

So this is an appeal to my Christian Brothers and Sisters, not all but some... stop the Damnation. Stop the Judgement. Stop the Religism. Thats not our business. 

It doesn't matter how well you can preach...How many Bible Verses you've memorized or How many people "think" you are all that. If you don't have love, you're nothing. Love is not a chore. Its a revelation. The Christ you serve revealed it in its purest form.

Gandhi said: "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians." 

Don't be one of "those". This is an invitation...Start the LOVE...Join the movement...>

This is an age-old problem with Christians; we do tend to overstep our boundaries. The fact that it is not within our power to save the world bothers us to some degree. We want to be the saviors of the universe, not merely His ambassadors. Humble servants who carry messages don't usually get much of the credit. Matters of eternity are, indeed, above our pay-grade. And, for some, it sticks in their craw; creating a bit of false piety and arrogance among the ranks giving us a bad reputation in some circles.

I wish I could take back the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Dark Ages, every genocidal slaughter and unspeakable atrocity that has been carried out in the name of God, including wiping out vast populations of native Americans and enslavement of fellow human beings right up to this present madness of intolerance on all sides, racial and civil hatred with violence; but I can't. (And I say that with tears) The truth is, I don't know what they were thinking, and I have no way of undoing those actions. What I can do is live for Jesus here and now. Live according to His grace. Focus my life on Him and not on me.

Living for Jesus is a life of love lived in grace. That doesn't give me a pass on living like Jesus lived. Christians walk individually daily in His footsteps. His path followed the 10 Commandments; not to rub it into to the rest of us, but to please God. He memorized tons of verses; not to compete with the rest of us, but to win over temptation when it came his way. Jesus preached well; not to impress people with His speaking, but to give them words of life.

Something Emanuella may have missed is that Jesus didn't come so that we could live good lives. Good isn't even on the table. Perfect was the goal and nobody hits that except Him. Anything short of that is condemned, but not by Christians. No, we're just as guilty as everyone else. It's God alone that pronounces that judgement.

The point is: we fail... a lot. With Jesus, it's a done deal. Doing good doesn't earn anything. Doing good doesn't pay back, forward, sideways or anything. It's called grace. Doing good has to be on the basis of grace or don't do it at all. Doing good is a response to grace not a demand of grace. It's a difference in attitude and action.

Maybe that difference can be illustrated by observing the difference between the two brothers in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The lost son who returns to the father humble and ready to take on the chores of a field hand just to be able to stay on the father's ranch. While his older, jealous brother complained about never getting to have a party despite his loyalty to that same father despite the fact that, in the end, he inherits everything.

Grace approaches everyone the same: just another person that God loves so much that He let Jesus die for them. Following the 10 Commandments and memorizing Scripture are a way to discover more about this God that showers such unbelievable grace on me. Why wouldn't I want to live that way? Jesus did. He loved everybody because of those things in his life not despite them.

What Emanuella suggests is essential to walking in Jesus' steps. He gave us a plan to do this. Step one: Love God. Step 2: love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Step three: go teach others to do steps one and two. With Christ - it's not about good, it's about grace.