The (Perceived) Heresy of Grace

Because Jesus Keeps Forgiving the Wrong People

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Be sure to also check out my latest over at Mockingbird. This essay reflects on my time at the Mockingbird NYC conference and the Relief of knowing Christ appears in the most unexpected places.

Grace is offensive. Not just surprising, not merely disorienting—but downright scandalous. The kind of scandal makes the “properly” religious squirm and the “respectably” moral gnash their teeth. If you preach it right, grace will get you accused of heresy quicker than an actual heretic at a Holiness revival.

We in the church like to say that grace is amazing. The most requested hymn in the church says just that. And grace is—but we prefer it amazing on our terms. Something sweet and polite that you can crochet onto a pillow or bake into a casserole. We want grace that nods in approval at our efforts and frowns on the people who didn’t try as hard as we did. But the grace of Jesus Christ? The grace that called the wrong people to the front pew and forgave Roman executioners from the cross? That grace is not polite. That grace is not tame. That grace is dangerous.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who knew a thing or two about costly grace, warned us against what he called cheap grace—grace that excuses without transforming, forgives without demanding, saves without sanctifying. But I wonder if the problem we have today isn’t just cheap grace—it’s the refusal to believe that grace could be as free and as reckless as it actually is.