Well this is extremely unhelpful
Gotta love cheap grace
So, the fact that I’m writing this Memo from the here and now rather than from beyond the grave is a larger feat than you might believe. I preached yesterday. It was Mother’s Day. But the study we’ve been in landed us on the topic of gossip. Yes, I preached on the topic of gossip with a number of visiting mothers with us.
I’m joking about it being the death of me, of course. Everyone that I’ve encountered in my life knows that the Scriptural admonition against speaking poorly of others behind their back applies with equal force and is equally applicable on all of us, male or female, at any age. I know I’ve got a problem with it and need it addressed. Still, I had to laugh at the Holy Spirit prompting the sermon schedule to fall that way; and I did let everyone know at the end to be sure to come back on Father’s Day when I’ll be preaching on pride and the refusal to ask directions when you’re lost.
Anyway, enough with that (I did post the sermon below if you’re interested in having your toes stepped on like mine were) – let’s get to the topic I wanted to address. In the continuing aftermath of the Supreme Court’s apparent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, there exists no shortage of hot takes and moralizing from people on every side of the issue.
Even within the community of those who identify as Christians, I’ve witnessed some incredibly graceless responses, accusatory responses, angry responses, and ones that I would deem extraordinarily unhelpful and misleading. Like this:
First, while I think it’s logical why those with a Scripturally-based Christian theology regarding human life consider abortion to be sinful, I honestly have never heard – even from the most vocal pro-life believers I’ve interacted with – someone say that a person who has had an abortion is beyond the reach of Christ’s blood. If anyone did, they would be well beyond the doctrines of Jesus and the full counsel of Scripture.
That said, what Todd Harding is doing in this statement is exhibiting a tone that cheapens the seriousness and danger of sin. The post reeks with the stench of a “cheap grace” mindset – the very thing that Paul warned about in his letter to Christians in Rome:
Romans 6
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we know something is sinful, we don’t (1) keep doing it just because we know we are forgiven, or (2) “support” someone else in doing it because we know they can be forgiven as well.
It might be easier to think about this outside the cultural hot-button topic of abortion. Consider any other moral issue and substitute it in place of abortion in Todd’s statement:
“Okay, I’ll say it. Yes, you can be a Christian and be a racist or support someone who is. You won’t lose your salvation, just as you don’t by committing other sins or making other poor choices. Stop adding to Scripture with nonsense like ‘if you do X you aren’t saved.’”
Or
“Okay, I’ll say it. Yes, you can be a Christian and rape someone, or support someone who does. You won’t lose your salvation, just as you don’t by committing other sins or making other poor choices. Stop adding to Scripture with nonsense like ‘if you do X you aren’t saved.’”
While it’s true that the blood of Jesus covers a multitude of sins and washes them white as snow, notice that Paul said we are to have died to the sin and not live in it any longer. We confess it as sin, repent of it, and encourage others to do the same. That’s what Paul is talking about when he says we are to be, “living a new life.”
When I first started preaching full time, my dad gave me his old copy of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book The Cost of Discipleship. In it, Bonhoeffer coins the phrase cheap grace and defines it this way:
“[T]he preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”
In other words, this false teaching of grace emphasizes the benefits of Christianity while downplaying or ignoring the cost. That’s the dangerous attitude I perceive in Todd Harding’s remarks, but I’m quite confident he isn’t alone.
As believers, it’s another chance for us to testify to the truth of who Jesus is, and what His Lordship means for our lives. It doesn’t mean condemning another person for their sin, but it also doesn’t mean conveying to that other person that there is no sin.
ICYMI…
Here’s that Mother’s Day sermon on gossip I mentioned above if you’re interesting in hearing it…
Also, check out these couple articles I wrote if you have the time:
I just preached yesterday and made reference to Bonhoeffer's "cheap grace". My topic was seeing the life of a disciple of Jesus through the life of Ruth.
Just excellent- bless you.