Admit One

I wonder why we enter the Kingdom of God via the acknowledgment of our sin, failure, brokenness, by confessing it, and admitting our need of a Savior, but then, shift quickly into defending ourselves and calling for grace. 

“Grace,” according to the wise words of one man,  “does not overlook sin.  It is the empowerment for righteous living.”  Righteous living is the ability to do right.  It could also be called wisdom.  Or discernment exercised. 

We would probably be better suited for our work if confession, repentance, effort given to the repair of the damage we have done, and forgiveness (both extending and receiving it) were all part of the normal experience of church life.  Grace isn’t our free ticket to do whatever we are comfortable with; it is the invitation to dive deep into the work of our lives, facing our junk, knowing that we aren’t kicked out of the family as we lean in, stumbling though we will.  But it shouldn’t be a free pass to do damage and walk away without taking responsibility for doing what we can to clean up the mess we’ve made (or contributed to), to mend the hurts, to salve the wounds.  Maybe it would help if we would each begin to admit just one thing about the truth of ourselves to another person. 

We cannot have healthy communities if we give up the work of restoration, which will always be needed because they are made up of humans who will continually let one another down.  Grace is the amazing foundation, brought to us as a gift from heaven and is a tool that repairs.  But it doesn’t succeed without honesty, transparency, and humility, elements required to move in two directions between us as we live together.