Cheap Grace?
I think Fryer makes a insightful connection between gift and call when she writes,
“One of them had done the unthinkable and turned Jesus over to be killed. And all the rest of them had run away. They knew the fact that Jesus was even still talking to them was a gift. There was no way they deserved his call to mission. It was a gift. But it was also a call. They had been called into a great adventure."
The gift here is more than future salvation, but present adventure. The call to follow Jesus here does not consist of moral imperatives but missionary opportunities. In some ways, this conception blurs the distinction between grace and law: the law (what Jesus asks us to do) is grace, given to us by him, as a gift, for our joy, our adventure.
However, I think Fryer reverts back to standard language on gift and grace when she writes, “Christians today aren't always quite as good at making this connection between the gift of grace and the call to act.” This is grace separate from the law, not grace found in doing the law. This is the grace that frees the sin-sick soul. It is also the grace which blankets us with forgiveness, allowing us to be content with a minimal response to God's call to action. This is the grace which can become cheap. As Fryer
quotes Bonhoffer,
“Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord's Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ.”
Fryer then points out, “Bonhoeffer challenged the church to reconnect grace and discipleship, to recognize that the gift we are given in Jesus Christ is also a call to follow him.” However, I question Bonhoeffer's reconnection. Bonhoeffer writes, “Jesus summons men to follow him not as a teacher or a pattern of the good life, but as Christ, the Son of God (Cpt 2).” To Bonhoeffer, this means that a partial response to Jesus is not
acceptable. Indeed, “[t]here is no road to faith or discipleship, no other road -only obedience to the call of Jesus (Cpt 2).” The only people in Bonhoeffer's eyes who can begin to accept grace in their lives are those like Luther, who “one whose attempts to follow Christ had taught him that he can never becomes sinless, who in his fear of sin despairs of the grace of God (Cpt 1).” I fear that in this framework, the gift aspect is lost. As Bonhoeffer writes, “Not a word of praise is given to the disciple for his decision for Christ (Cpt 2).”
As we consider how to use this conversation to further the mission of Christ, we must not only look at Bonhoeffer's theology, but the practical reality that “cheap” grace destroys the institution of the Church. See Europe. Furthermore, “costly” grace promotes the Church. A community that demands much from their members engenders a deeper sense of common identity. Such a community also has greater resources, financial, emotional and spiritual to help its own members.
However, "costly" grace always verges on legalism and often is sold on fear. Furthermore, basic Lutheran confessional approach to scripture abhors this idea, especially the extreme form of Bonhoeffer. We also acknowledge in our own lives and in scripture the reality of a road to faith. We confess our bondage to sin, recorded in First John. Thus, the question becomes, how can we remain missional when our confessional heritage draws us toward "cheap" grace?
In the Book of Acts, people spread the Good News by telling what God had done
for them in Christ, not telling people how God therefore demands they respond. I think this is what Fryer is getting at in her first link between the gift and call. Our call is like that of the Gerasene demoniac healed in Mark 5 to ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you (5.19)." The call is the narrative imperative.
How though, do we treat the moral imperative? I think we admit that a life of obedience does bear fruit. Even if our place in heaven is secured by grace apart from our actions, trying to follow God's law is helpful for us. As we preach salvation by grace, we should not shy away from reminding people of the blessings that come from following Christ, not just at the end of the day when we humbly confess our sins, but in the morning when we rise knowing that God will be there to guide us.
“One of them had done the unthinkable and turned Jesus over to be killed. And all the rest of them had run away. They knew the fact that Jesus was even still talking to them was a gift. There was no way they deserved his call to mission. It was a gift. But it was also a call. They had been called into a great adventure."
The gift here is more than future salvation, but present adventure. The call to follow Jesus here does not consist of moral imperatives but missionary opportunities. In some ways, this conception blurs the distinction between grace and law: the law (what Jesus asks us to do) is grace, given to us by him, as a gift, for our joy, our adventure.
However, I think Fryer reverts back to standard language on gift and grace when she writes, “Christians today aren't always quite as good at making this connection between the gift of grace and the call to act.” This is grace separate from the law, not grace found in doing the law. This is the grace that frees the sin-sick soul. It is also the grace which blankets us with forgiveness, allowing us to be content with a minimal response to God's call to action. This is the grace which can become cheap. As Fryer
quotes Bonhoffer,
“Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord's Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ.”
Fryer then points out, “Bonhoeffer challenged the church to reconnect grace and discipleship, to recognize that the gift we are given in Jesus Christ is also a call to follow him.” However, I question Bonhoeffer's reconnection. Bonhoeffer writes, “Jesus summons men to follow him not as a teacher or a pattern of the good life, but as Christ, the Son of God (Cpt 2).” To Bonhoeffer, this means that a partial response to Jesus is not
acceptable. Indeed, “[t]here is no road to faith or discipleship, no other road -only obedience to the call of Jesus (Cpt 2).” The only people in Bonhoeffer's eyes who can begin to accept grace in their lives are those like Luther, who “one whose attempts to follow Christ had taught him that he can never becomes sinless, who in his fear of sin despairs of the grace of God (Cpt 1).” I fear that in this framework, the gift aspect is lost. As Bonhoeffer writes, “Not a word of praise is given to the disciple for his decision for Christ (Cpt 2).”
As we consider how to use this conversation to further the mission of Christ, we must not only look at Bonhoeffer's theology, but the practical reality that “cheap” grace destroys the institution of the Church. See Europe. Furthermore, “costly” grace promotes the Church. A community that demands much from their members engenders a deeper sense of common identity. Such a community also has greater resources, financial, emotional and spiritual to help its own members.
However, "costly" grace always verges on legalism and often is sold on fear. Furthermore, basic Lutheran confessional approach to scripture abhors this idea, especially the extreme form of Bonhoeffer. We also acknowledge in our own lives and in scripture the reality of a road to faith. We confess our bondage to sin, recorded in First John. Thus, the question becomes, how can we remain missional when our confessional heritage draws us toward "cheap" grace?
In the Book of Acts, people spread the Good News by telling what God had done
for them in Christ, not telling people how God therefore demands they respond. I think this is what Fryer is getting at in her first link between the gift and call. Our call is like that of the Gerasene demoniac healed in Mark 5 to ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you (5.19)." The call is the narrative imperative.
How though, do we treat the moral imperative? I think we admit that a life of obedience does bear fruit. Even if our place in heaven is secured by grace apart from our actions, trying to follow God's law is helpful for us. As we preach salvation by grace, we should not shy away from reminding people of the blessings that come from following Christ, not just at the end of the day when we humbly confess our sins, but in the morning when we rise knowing that God will be there to guide us.
posted by RJM at 2:50 PM
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