With the name of our church being “Goodwill Baptist Church”, we receive phone calls on a pretty regular basis from people asking for help. To be honest, at times, this really grates on me. I mean, why would a person who does not attend church anywhere and has, from all basic observations, a very shallow relationship with God call a church asking for help? But then it hit me…our God is a God of grace, so we should be a church of grace.
God is a God of grace, so we should be a church of grace.
By definition, grace is receiving something that is not deserved. It is an unmerited favor. When I think about my relationship with God, I know that He has given me many things that I don’t deserve. He has given me life and health. He has given me a beautiful wife and family. He has given me a good job and people that love and care for me. Do I deserve any of those things? But even beyond those physical blessings, God has loved me and forgiven me. I know that more often than not, I am not a very lovable person. I tend to be very selfish. I tend to be only concerned about me and nobody else. And yet, God loves me. He loves me so much that he made it possible for me to spend eternity with him. He has forgiven me from all of my mistakes. He has taken all of those times that I have messed up and he has removed them from as far as the east is from the west. He has given me grace.
So, if God has shown me grace, shouldn’t I extend that same grace to others? Yes! And the same is true for every believer. If the same is true for every believer, then the same is also true for the church. We should be quick to give people what they don’t deserve. We should not be undiscerning and taken advantage of, but we should be extremely gracious. We should be known as a hospital for the hurting and not just a home for the holy.
We should be quick to give people what they don’t deserve.
When people think of church, our church, do they think of a place that is loving and gracious or a place that is stuck-up and condemning? If you were in need of help, would your first call be to your church? May God’s grace for us motivate us to be gracious to others.