Both Grace and Truth
John 1:14,16,17 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth … For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. That is, the law was given to us through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (NRSV)
I grieve over political tribalism amongst God’s people. Not because I don’t have my own political views, but because I ache at seeing Christians define themselves first and foremost through their politics, rather than their relationship with Jesus.
You see it all the time, don’t you? Left against right. Vaxxers against anti-vaxxers. Pro-life against pro-choice. And sure, that’s what you expect out there in the world where sin, unsurprisingly, rules the roost. But surely not amongst God’s people, where according to Jesus, we should stand out by how much we love one another.
Yet at one end of the political scale, Christians seem capable of espousing, as Carey Nieuwhof puts it, graceless truth with such vitriol that it crushes people with the hard edge of the truth. And often what emanates from the other end is a truthless grace, with that “if it feels good do it” mantra that’s unwittingly leading people to a Christless eternity.
What a mess God’s church is in, with schisms that run so deep that no one seems to have the power to heal them. Enter Jesus:
John 1:14,16,17 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth … For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. That is, the law was given to us through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (NRSV)
Did you pick it? Jesus is full of grace and truth. And that’s precisely what you and I are called to as well – not political tribalism. Is it easy to be gracious and truthful all at the same time? Not at all! That’s why we each need Jesus, to be full of grace and truth.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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