Today as I was driving home from somewhere, I passed the home of where a difficult person used to live. It’s not that she is a horrible person – just difficult. Her health is difficult. Her circumstances are difficult. She’s moved away now and her issues have become the issues of another group of people. It was hard to see her, hard to help her. It felt impossible. Dealing with difficult people is awkward. You want them to do well, to prosper to improve and get on with a happy life and when they don’t, it’s, well, difficult.
Yesterday, our Bible study group listened to a message from Andy Stanley that bought into clear focus the tension that existed when Jesus walked the earth and still exists in our lives today.
It’s the tension I feel on a regular basis….almost daily. Whenever I stop at a traffic light and see a beggar, I feel the tension. On the one hand, my heart goes out to the man on the street – on the other hand, if I hand out money to him, it will keep him there. My compassion collides with reality, which is exactly why this message struck a chord with me and gave me greater understanding than ever before.
As Andy explains, when we love people how God loves them, it’s terrifying, complicated and difficult – perhaps inconsistent.
Andy says, “It was messy, it was inconsistent, perhaps unfair, really confusing, because there is a tension” with the way Jesus loved. If you try and figure it out and make it clean cut and understandable, you WILL lose one of the major elements of loving the way Jesus loved.
Here’s why:
John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
How can you have grace AND truth together?
We seem to live our lives with a foot in each camp. One in the grace camp and on in the truth camp.
- We forgive sinners by forgiving them as Jesus did. (Grace)
- We upset sinners by telling them the truth of their wrong actions. (Truth)
That’s the tension right there. Now, when I feel it, I understand it.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
The woman at the well. She shows her compassion, but tells her the truth.
The woman caught in adultery. Jesus shows her compassion, but ends his encounter with “go and sin no more.’
Grace and truth.
Having this understanding makes me more determined to dig deeper into the truths of the Bible. The Word of God is our foundation. It stands true through all generations. Just because there are things in it that we don’t understand does not change its message. Jesus has the words of life. To whom else can we go?
John 6:67-68
Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.…
Keep believing.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx
