Being Offensive and Charitable
Rand Alcorn relays this story
(originally told by Philip Yancey) in his book The Grace and Truth Paradox. I’ll let him finish:
As she steps
off the bus, she finds herself greeted by forty brothers, sisters, uncles,
aunts, cousins, grandparents, and her parents, all wearing party hats, with a
huge banner stretched out saying, “Welcome home.”
Before she
can finish saying “I’m sorry,” her father murmurs, “Hush, sweetheart, we’ll
talk later. We’ve got to get you home to the party; there’s a banquet waiting
for you!”
This is just one of many stories
told in Alcorn’s Grace and Truth Paradox.
It’s a small hardback—under 100 pages—and the pages fly by. But for its
brevity, it says a lot.
I wish I’d have read this book
shortly after its release ten years ago. If you’re familiar with my story,
you’re aware that God is using various elements like wet pants and the Hebrew language to teach me how to more fully experience and demonstrate God’s love.
This book is a huge encouragement to pursue love by focusing on two elements
that we might naturally think are opposites: grace and truth. The paradox of
its title, however, is imagined. Grace and truth are complementary to the
highest degree. As Alcorn says, “Anything less than both is neither.”
In this powerful little volume,
Alcorn explores the scandalous nature of unrelenting grace and unbending truth.
Using poignant stories from Scripture and his own life, he illustrates the
world’s desperate need for the church to weave grace and truth into the fabric
of its walk and talk. He warns against abusing grace by lowering Christ’s standards
in the name of tolerance. He warns against abusing truth by using it as a
weapon for self-righteousness and condemnation.
Something’s
wrong if all unbelievers hate us.
Something’s wrong if
all unbelievers like us.
If we accurately
demonstrate grace and truth, some
will be drawn to us and others will be offended by us—just as they were by
Jesus.
When we offend
everybody, it’s because we’ve taken on the truth mantle without grace. When we
offend nobody, it’s because we’ve watered down truth in the name of grace.
Most importantly, Alcorn shows us
the Savior, who acted as our substitute and example by being “full of grace and
truth” (Jn. 14). It is His display of grace and truth for us that enables us to
display grace and truth for others. Because God designed grace and truth to
work together, Alcorn proposes that we can support the ownership of private
property and the need to voluntarily
share wealth with the needy; we can oppose injustice to minorities and the unborn; we can oppose greedy
ruination of the environment and
anti-industry environmentalism; we can oppose sexual immorality in all its
forms and show genuine compassion to
those trapped in destructive lifestyles.
When you’re caught committing
adultery, probably the last person you want to be brought before is the person
who outlawed adultery in the first place. But that’s exactly what happens to
the adulteress in John 8. And yet, the outcome wasn’t what she might have
expected. As Alcorn explains,
Jesus rebuked the
woman’s accusers. But that isn’t the end of the story. He could have said,
“Go burn for your
sins.”
or
“Go and feel free to
sin some more.”
What He did say was,
“Go and sin no more.”
Jesus didn’t deny
truth. He affirmed it. She needed to repent. And change.
Jesus didn’t deny
grace. He offered it. He sent her away, forgiven and cleansed, to a new life.
If you struggle at all with using
truth as a weapon of war instead of a tool of love, I recommend reading this
book. If you struggle at all with using grace as an excuse to overlook sin
(either in your life or the lives of others), I recommend reading this book.
You will be challenged and encouraged. You will be humbled and amazed. And you
will encounter a glorious Savior who will draw you into His arms with grace and
truth.