Grace Culture

One of the nicest compliments that anyone ever paid me was to say that I was like Lucinda, a character in the book “You Are Special” by Max Lucado.  Jesus and I both know that I am not truly completely like Lucinda…I try, but I am more of a multiple personality that toggles back and forth from being grace-driven, Lucinda and works-driven, Annette.   In my fading moments, when I am defaulting to my old self, my husband will say, “Come on, Lucinda”.

Lucinda is the character that introduces Punchinello, a Wemmick who lives in a village that thrives on giving out gray dots and stars to its people, to Eli, the Woodcarver, who created the Wimmicks.  Lucinda is free from the Wemmick’s system, because she doesn’t allow the gray dots or stars to stick to her and as the story progresses and Punchinello gets to know Eli, the gray dots begin to fall off of him as well.

How I long to live free from a Wemmickity culture…to be part of a culture that is free from honor competition and resilient to shame.  I believe this is the abundant life that Jesus has promised to us.  This is the glorious freedom to which Christ has called us.  This is the path of true grace….the path that the world longs for.

We cannot bring the world to experience this glorious freedom, when we as Christians are still caught up in a worldly identity crisis where we are using stars and gray dots to define ourselves and others instead of allowing God to tell us who we are and allow Him alone to reveal to us the mystery of Himself and His divine plan.  We are His workmanship…created for good works which He, Himself, prepares in advance for us to do.  It is His plan, His gifting, His power and to pride ourselves in the stars is to deprive Him of the glory. 

It is not our calling to help people escape the culture of the world only to bring them into a culture that is still placing the attention on human performance rather than the unsurpassable greatness of God.  It is by grace that we are saved…not by works so that none of us can boast. 

On the other hand, when we focus on the gray dots…our failures and the areas where we fall short, we are still placing our focus on ourselves instead of who we are in Christ and this is just as much a form of pride as boasting in our accomplishments.  We shouldn’t deny the power of the risen Christ that is in us to deliver us from the power of shame and equip us to walk in victory.  This too is depriving God of the glory of His precious gift of redemption.

God, thank you that You have called us to walk in freedom, deliver us from the bondage of pride that manifests itself in both the desiring of accomplishments and in the fearing of the lack of accomplishments.  Lead us in Your victory parade so we can show the world the joyous culture of grace.

 

Ephesians 4:4-10--But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.