JOHN FAIRRINGTON.COM
  • HOME
    • What is Practicing Gratitude Giving?
    • Our Staff
    • Contact
  • THE FORGE
    • Forge Resources
  • GET SOUL RENOVATION
    • More on WIld Renovation
    • Why should I get Spiritual Direction?
    • The Practical Side of Spiritual Direction
    • About our Training • Qualifications • and Support
    • Give the Gift of Soul Care!
  • THE SERVANTS INITIATIVE
  • VIZCON
    • VIZCON 2
    • VIZCON 3
  • WILD RESOURCES
    • WILD RESOURCES BLOG
    • Wild Resources for Rhythm
    • Books
  • WILD ADVENTURE
    • PALM SUNDAY SUNRISE RIDE
    • Adventure Saturdays >
      • Adventure Saturday • Scott • Forks of Salmon • Trinity Rivers
    • Family Style Events >
      • Time to Get out!
    • Men's Events >
      • Men Living Wild Backcountry Xcursion
      • Men's Forge ADV Challenge
    • Backcountry Xcursion Rates and List
    • Backcountry Xcursion Routes >
      • DAY BXR >
        • Anderson Butte Day Xcursion
        • Scott • Forks of Salmon • Trinity Rivers
      • 2 DAY BXR
      • 3 DAY BXR
      • 4 DAY BXR
      • 5 DAY BXR
      • 6-8 DAY BXR
      • 9-11 DAY BXR
      • 12-16 DAY BXR
      • LONG BXR
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • WILD PLACES STUDIO by John Fairrington
    • Wood Frame Gallery
  • FIX'N TO HELP LLC
  • IMPORTANT EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
  • SPIRITUAL RETREATS
    • PCRR • Pacific Coast Range Ride • Sabbatical

Wild Resources Blog

​So Jesus responded, “I don’t teach my own ideas, but the truth revealed to me by the One who sent me. If you want to test my
teachings and discover where I received them, first be passionate to do God’s will, and then you will be able to discern if
my teachings are from the heart of God or from my own opinions. Jn 7:16-17

The Undertone of the Gospel of Grace

10/30/2018

0 Comments

 

Part 1: The Grace of God is not reserved for the “well-behaved.”

Picture
"Grace is constant flow carving its way through the strata of shame, legalism, and religiosity. Although it often goes unnoticed, it carves it's way through the scars and caverns of our soul."
​John Fairrington.

When you find yourself paralyzed or plagued by the shame of your past, or the pain you have caused, the Gospel is there to remind you that there is a deeper work that has been done. When the enemy reminds and accuses us by saying “Look at what you have done” Jesus shouts in return a resounding “Look at what I have done!” You may never get over the guilt and shame, the wounds and hurts you have either caused or experienced but Jesus provided everything you need to move on in your story and send the enemy packing! “It is Finished” means It is finished. Your sins are remembered no more!


Wether you are well known or nobody knows anything about you. Many people, when they have been “found out,” begin to live isolated and ashamed inside the consequences of their self-inflicted wounds.
Sin corrupts things. It breaks things. It separates things. It toxifies things. It twists things out of shape and unravels the fabric of our lives and the lives of others. In this sense, every individual act of sin has communal repercussions. This is why when one person sins, every person suffers—including the one that sinned. Of course, everyone experiences a different dimension of suffering. The ones sinned against experience the suffering of betrayal and injustice, hurt and confusion—just to name a few. The one who sinned experiences the suffering of guilt and shame and regret and, oftentimes, ostracized. Both experience loss at various levels.
​
The uncomfortable kicker: the Gospel is for both parties. The good news of God’s unconditional love and outrageous mercy has always and forever been for sufferers, regardless of whether the suffering is self-induced or caused by someone else. If the good news of God’s forgiving and restorative grace isn’t for everyone, then it isn’t for anyone. In fact, it bears noting that the scandal of Christianity is not that its adherents sometimes commit atrocious acts, but that the founder of Christianity willingly died for them. Yes, Christ’s forgiveness includes the worst offenders you can think of. And, consequently, so should ours.  

2 Corinthians 8:9: You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
​

If God is who we say he is, then real sin is also met with real forgiveness. In fact, if what we know about the Gospel has any bearing on actual life, then redemption—not retribution—ought to be our deepest longing. It is the only thing that has a shot of making any difference, or bringing about genuine healing for everybody. The cross of Jesus shows us that God is serious about sin and we should therefore take sin seriously. But (and this is the part that I personally have experienced and often seems missing when scandal and sin in church leadership happens) the cross also shows us that God is serious about redemption, restoration, and forgiving sins and we should take that seriously too.

The grace of God is not reserved for the “well-behaved.” Yet that is the message we send every time the word “fall" is used in reference to someone who is by nature already fallen. These people are sinners, just like everybody they ever led. That doesn't justify destructive behavior, diminish the sting of consequences, or minimize the harming effects of destructive choices. But if we're only okay with preaching grace in theory, but not when someone—even an esteemed leader—is actually in need of it, then perhaps we should all take a sabbatical. As someone once said, “People love it when preachers say they are broken just like the rest of us, until that preacher does something that the rest of us broken people do.” Food for thought!


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Author

    John Fairrington
    Un-Commoner
    Advocate of Simple Christianity

    Categories

    All
    About Simple
    Accessing Grace
    Adventures With God
    A Rogue Story
    Cultural Christianity
    Defending Grace
    Faith
    Fireside Challenges
    Food For Thought
    Get'n Your Head On Straight!
    Life Navigation
    Story
    The Jesus Culture
    Visual Contemplation
    Wild On The Path

    Archives

    March 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    August 2024
    April 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    December 2021
    July 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    March 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

WILD ON THE PATH is a Family Service Nonprofit Corporation #99-0415896
Said corporation is organized exclusively for charitable help services, spiritual health and direction, educational life practices, and family support services that promote thriving on a healthy path, including, for such purposes, under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code.
  • HOME
    • What is Practicing Gratitude Giving?
    • Our Staff
    • Contact
  • THE FORGE
    • Forge Resources
  • GET SOUL RENOVATION
    • More on WIld Renovation
    • Why should I get Spiritual Direction?
    • The Practical Side of Spiritual Direction
    • About our Training • Qualifications • and Support
    • Give the Gift of Soul Care!
  • THE SERVANTS INITIATIVE
  • VIZCON
    • VIZCON 2
    • VIZCON 3
  • WILD RESOURCES
    • WILD RESOURCES BLOG
    • Wild Resources for Rhythm
    • Books
  • WILD ADVENTURE
    • PALM SUNDAY SUNRISE RIDE
    • Adventure Saturdays >
      • Adventure Saturday • Scott • Forks of Salmon • Trinity Rivers
    • Family Style Events >
      • Time to Get out!
    • Men's Events >
      • Men Living Wild Backcountry Xcursion
      • Men's Forge ADV Challenge
    • Backcountry Xcursion Rates and List
    • Backcountry Xcursion Routes >
      • DAY BXR >
        • Anderson Butte Day Xcursion
        • Scott • Forks of Salmon • Trinity Rivers
      • 2 DAY BXR
      • 3 DAY BXR
      • 4 DAY BXR
      • 5 DAY BXR
      • 6-8 DAY BXR
      • 9-11 DAY BXR
      • 12-16 DAY BXR
      • LONG BXR
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • WILD PLACES STUDIO by John Fairrington
    • Wood Frame Gallery
  • FIX'N TO HELP LLC
  • IMPORTANT EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
  • SPIRITUAL RETREATS
    • PCRR • Pacific Coast Range Ride • Sabbatical