Offensive Grace

I had a chat with a colleague at work once about my faith. It was a good discussion, she was asking honest questions and I was trying to answer in kind, but by the end of the conversation she was confused and a little offended by the concept of grace.

Grace, as a word, is probably best known from the title and opening line of the hymn "Amazing Grace" which contains lyrics about joy and freedom. The definition of grace is to receive a good thing even though you do not deserve it. It is a free gift that has not been earned. So how does such a positive thing offend someone?



In the Christian faith grace is used to describe the way that God freely gave us the gift of eternal life with Him through Jesus. I have mentioned in another post how Christianity is a bit like the reverse of every other religion in the world- instead of doing good things and getting rewarded with heaven, you get given heaven and can't help but do good things out of thankfulness.

I have also mentioned in another post how the concept of fairness has a strong grip on our culture, and this is a clue to why grace can repel us. But specifically, the reason lies in our natural tendency towards double standards, towards comforting ourselves by looking down on others.

When grace replaces justice for my soul and my destination changes from hell to heaven, then I like grace. I am very happy about it. But when grace is equally applied to someone that I think is lower than myself in society then suddenly I'm not so sure that it's the best way of doing things. If God can forgive me, well that's fine, but if He insists of giving the same gift of forgiveness to a murderer or a paedophile (who I might think are clearly "worse" than myself) then I might start complaining that that's not fair. It seems clear from the outside that I am arrogantly trying to tell God how to rule the universe. In particular, he should bend the rules for me but not for the people I dislike.

Unfortunately, my perception that anyone else is "lower" than myself in some standards is not reality, it is merely my own selfish opinion. God sees the murderer and I as equally sinful, as equally lost, as equally in need of love and forgiveness. So he offers it equally to both of us.

Jesus knew that that same thing was going to be an issue for many people, which is why he told the parable of the workers receiving the same wage in the gospel of Matthew (Chapter 20 verses 1-16).

It is a shame that at the end of the conversation, my colleague from work focussed more on the scandal of equality than the love offered by God. But there is always hope that one day a seed sown will develop into something more.