Tim Brister: Where the Problem Lies

"The worldly culture tells us that the center of our problems are out there, but the gospel tells us that the problem lies in our hearts. Only the gospel can bring transformation from within, and as long as wrongly diagnose the location of the disease, we will fail to access the cure.

Only a true grasp of the gospel can liberate us from the lies we have told ourselves. Not only are we  dishonest about our sin and neediness, but we are not fearful or closed off from inviting others to being honest with themselves and ourselves as well. Tripp is right. We participate in “the blind leading the blind” when we refuse to see sin rightly and live as a community that makes self-atonement by pretending and performing in attempts to circumvent the power of the gospel to change our lives. How blind are we? We would rather live in the chains of self-deception through the lens of pride than the freedom of self-discovery through the lens of Scripture.

A gospel-centered community is counter-cultural because it identifies the real problem (our hearts) and has the only, lasting cure to solve it (the gospel). Instead of pretending to be self-righteous, we give permission and invite others to help us change by exposing self-deception and blind spots in a community radically shaped by grace and governed by truth. I am not who I am in my pride and self-deception. I am who I am in Christ and my acceptance through his imputed righteousness and substitutionary death on the cross. The challenge is to live in latter through repenting of the former, and the counter-cultural community changed by the gospel will serve as the canvas upon which the sunrise of God’s Word illuminates our lives.

When I know my Sin-bearer drank the bitter cup and atoned for ever last one of my sins, why should I hide? What could be known about me that is not already covered in the blood? When I know that God’s righteous judgment of my sin was carried out on His Son in my place on that cursed tree, I live in the fact that there is no condemnation for me, and no accusation of the enemy can silence the Advocate whose precious blood speaks for me. If these truths are ruling the affections of our hearts, then we can live as a people who invite truth in the place of deception, believing that the truth will set us free."

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Zach Hunter: Grace on the Ground

"The truth is, it’s much easier to feel compassion and show grace to people half a world away than it is to be kind to the people we live with, the jerk who took our parking space or the “idiot” who disagrees with our political views."

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Matt Patrick: The Gospel According to Hoosiers

Here's a strong illustration of grace from the movie Hoosiers starring Gene Hackman:

"...Things are going downhill, and according to the Hickory community, it’s all due to Coach Dale’s unconventional coaching methods (e.g. playing with only 4 players in an awesome scene).  Eventually, a town meeting is demanded by the angry Hickory community in order to decide, once and for all, whether Coach Dale is to remain the coach of Hickory High.

With a very court room kind of aura, the scene begins with Coach Dale spilling his heart out—confessing that he coached the team in an honest and diligent manner.  When the gentleman officiating the meeting opens the floor for comments concerning Coach Dale, Mrs. Law herself, Ms. Fleener, volunteers to speak.  I still remember the first time I saw the film, I cringed watching her walk up to the podium, anticipating the hammer of Myra Fleener to finish him off, to kick him while he’s good and vulnerable.

The moment is here. Everyone is expecting the hammer, BUT (Ephesians 2:4) as she arrives to the podium, Ms. Fleener opens a piece of paper (with tears in her eyes) and reads with a shaky voice:

“I think, in order to be fair… I think it would be a big mistake to let Coach Dale go.Give him a chance.”

This is the last thing you expect from Ms. Fleener, who hasn’t shown an ounce of sympathy for Coach Dale the entire film. Fleener is the ultimate t-crosser and i-dotter, yet, she vouches for the hothead coach—therefore being an agent of grace. “Giv[ing] him a chance” for Fleener translates as, “I know he doesn’t deserve it…I know he has a past, but give him a break.”  This is huge.  The lawgiver of the narrative proves to be the agent of compassion.

Mrs. Fleener, like all lawgivers (i.e. everyone) has the potential to squash its subject with our ample demands and expectations.  Lawgivers stalk their subject, or at least that’s what Fleener did to Coach Dale. One might expect, at any moment of the film, for Coach Dale to cry out:

Think of how wonderful it would be to settle down and live a comfortable life and not think about somebody chasing you down all the time.–Flannery O’Connor

That’s it. Grace means the chase is over. Throwing her hands up in submission, Ms. Fleener stopped chasing Coach Dale. Grace is the end of chasing."

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Paul Tripp: Law & Grace

"When I hear a sermon that is essentially law-driven, that is, asking the law to do what only the grace of Jesus Christ can accomplish, I am immediately concerned about the preacher. I immediately wonder about his view of himself, because if he had any self-consciousness about his own weakness and sin, he would find little hope and comfort for himself and his hearers in that kind of sermon. 

You see this dynamic in the Pharisees. Because they thought of themselves as righteous, perfect law givers, they had no problem laying unbearable law burdens on others. Their misuse of the law had its roots not only in bad theology but also in ugly human pride. They saw law keeping as possible, because they thought they were keeping it. And they thought that others should get up and keep it as well as they did. They were the religious leaders of their day, but they were arrogant, insensitive, uncompassionate, and judgmental. They were not part of what God was doing at the moment; no, they were in the way of it."

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