I've been reading a book lately borrowed from my best friend called, Changes That Heal - How to Understand Your Past to Ensure a Healthier Future by Dr. Henry Cloud. As usual, I am slow to get far in this book, but the first story in chapter one really grabbed my attention. So much so, I thought I would type it up for you to chew on as well. I think we have all found ourselves at some point in our walk of following Jesus, separating grace and truth. I know I am guilty. I tend to lean far to much on grace with my own walk in sin. Sin, going all the way back to Adam and Eve, ripped grace and truth apart. It was never meant to be this way. The nature of God is grace and truth: relational and structural. We need both. One without the other is deadly.
Any who ... some food for thought. What are your thoughts? I highly recommend you getting a copy of this book.
Grace and Truth.
Once upon a time in a faraway galaxy, there was a highly advanced people. They had everything they could ever desire: technology to solve every problem, and more leisure than we get in a lifetime. But they were bored. Bored to tears. They needed something new - something exciting - to liven up their planet.
A committee was established to look into the matter. They discussed coming up with a new sport. Or developing a new amusement park. Finally, an alien named Beezy proposed the winning idea. "How about creating a god?" he suggested.
Everyone agreed it was a wonderful idea. "It will give our people something to do on Sunday," one said. "And it will be great for conversation," said another.
So they tried to invent a god. But to no avail. Beezy, who had been placed in charge of the research and development of a new god called all the committee members together.
"Look, this just isn't working," he said. "What good is a god we can invent ourselves? We're smart enough to know that's not a real god. Why don't we find us a god instead - like that God the earthlings worship?"
The committee agreed, and soon afterward Beezy took a business trip to the Planet Earth. Under his invisible cloak, he visited dozens and dozens of churches and religious institutions. He took copious notes and spent hours writing up his report.
When he returned, the committee gathered, eager to hear of his findings. "Fellow aliens," he greeted them. " I have returned not with one god, but with two."
A gasp of astonishment rippled through the room.
"The name of the first god, or should I say goddess, is Grace. A very attractive goddess she is. She talked about love often. 'Get along, be friends, be nice, she'd say. And if you can't be good, I'll forgive you anyway.' Beezy looked perplexed. The only thing is, I'm not sure what she would forgive, since they didn't seem to have any rules to break."
Beezy went on. "I especially liked the things the followers of Grace did, like feeding the poor people and visiting prisoners in jail. However, - he shook his head - these followers of Grace seemed so lost. They kept doing the same bad things over and over, and they never seemed to know where they were going."
"Then there's the other god." Beezy took a deep breath. "This god is definitely a man, and his name is Truth. Truth is just as mean as Grace is nice. He kept telling the people all sorts of things about them that made them feel very bad, and his followers did the same thing. But there's a good side to Truth," Beezy reassured the committee. "He campaigns against some very nasty enemies, such as lying, cheating, adultery, abortion, and drunkenness. He's like a big religious street sweeper, sweeping away all his enemies. The only trouble is, he not only sweeps away bad things; he also sweeps away the people who do the bad things. As for the smiles you see on the followers of Grace - forget it. All Truth's followers do is scowl and scream."
Needless to say, after hearing Beezy's report, the committee were ready to opt for the new amusement park because they didn't like either god. But Beezy had one last suggestion.
"We have all this wonderful technology for mixing repelling elements, like oil and water," he said. "How about if we try mixing Grace and Truth?"