I was taking some notes on Andy Stanley’s new book, Deep & Wide, and came across a great quote about how North Point tries to balance grace and truth in their ministries:
Churches committed to embodying grace and truth will be forced to navigate yet a third sea of complexity. But speaking from personal experience, I’ll choose door number three every time. The grace-and-truth approach is messy. It’s gloriously messy. We have decided to be fine with that. One of our pastors, John Hambrick, has a saying that we’ve adopted organization-wide. He says, “We walk toward the messes.” …
…Either you were a mess, are a mess, or are one dumb decision away from becoming a mess. And when you were your messiest version of you, you weren’t looking for a policy, were you? You needed somebody to take you just as you were. That’s what Jesus did for me. That’s what Jesus did and will do for you. That being the case, it seems to me that’s what we should be about as the local church.
It’s tough to share truth in a graceful way. It’s also tough to give grace that doesn’t compromise truth. There’s no policy that can manage that. It’s not a problem to be solved; it’s a tension to be managed. One that we’re called to.
This week when there’s a mess you’re tempted to run away from, remember how God ran to you in your mess, and find a way to show God’s grace in that situation without compromising His truth.
Jeff McClung 