Unconditional is not Cheap

The other night I was browsing books at my local Family Christian store when I struck up a conversation with a guy in the same aisle. He was eagerly hunting for a book by a particular author. “Man, you gotta check this guy out! He’s on channel 9 at 6:30 in the morning. I was washed out on being a Christian, man. But this guy, he opened my eyes to grace!” The conversation continued about the fine line between law and grace and the failure of organized religion. I told him I was happy for him and I’d check the author out.

I meant what I said. I was genuinely happy to see his joy in Christ. His face was like many I’ve seen before rising from the waters of baptism into a new life. The Holy Spirit was definitely doing something in his life.

But there’s a risk. We desire structure and order, so we invent religious traditions. Yet we have an inner conflict to rebel, so cheap grace is an easy temptation. Not all grace is cheap of course. But there is a risk to worshiping grace rather than the giver of that grace. We easily turn blessings into idols- our families, financial prosperity. If you don’t believe me, look no further than the story of Isaac and Abraham. Isaac wasn’t just a blessing, he was an answered prayer, a miracle announced by an angel! And God needed Abraham to prove that he hadn’t become an idol.

I thought of this as Brennan Manning was describing God’s unconditional love and how we have such a hard time grasping the concept. This comes on the heels of Manning discussing “union” with God as His ultimate desire, so unconditional love is the means to that end. Yet how easily we twist it such that God’s unconditional love becomes the means to unlimited, cheap, grace. Manning writes,

Nothing changed. Nothing happened. Why? Because we confuse God’s unconditional love as Him showering blessing upon blessing on us rather than His desiring to be with us. How hard we try to ascend to the level of Jesus, forgetting that he forsook all to come down to our level.

As I was reading this chapter, I made this note: Unconditional love is not giving your child unlimited undeserved gifts on Christmas morning- that would be spoiling. No, unconditional love is even after your child misbehaves you get down on your knees to and play with those gifts together.

It is Jesus, loving us as we are where we are, that brings about change. That is unconditional love.

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion. The “consider this” questions come straight from the book- use them as a springboard for your own thoughts and feel free to share them here.