Transcript
You know, this is a very, very important moment for those of us who believe in the personal work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the unshakable truthfulness of the word of God. We're experiencing massive cultural changes and I'm convinced they've left many of us concerned and confused and maybe, buying into habits that will harm our influence. As God has called us to be salt and light, He's called us to be agents of His grace.
The Plan of Visible Grace
Remember, here's the plan. A God of invisible grace makes His grace visible by sending people of grace to give grace to people who need grace. That's the plan. And so, it's just wrong to think of people as a sin on two legs. No human being is that simple.
Human beings are multifaceted and multi-layered, and it's just wrong to characterize human beings that way, to put them in a class that way. It's too easy for us to just say, "Well, he's a homosexual. She's a lesbian," as if saying those words has now summarized everything we need to know about that human being. It's just not true. We don't say, "He's a greed. He's a pride." We don't do that in other areas. Why have we allowed ourselves to do that in this area?
You see, all of us are a package of strengths and weaknesses, of good things and bad things. God, in His plan, restrains all of us from being as bad as we could be. That's everybody and if I want to minister to you, I have to respect you, I have to love you, I have to want to know your story, I have to recognize the good things in you, celebrate those good things.
Grace Does Not Compromise Truth
Now, in no way does that mean compromising the things that the Bible says. Listen, moving toward a person with that kind of grace does not say that the wrong they're involved in is right. If wrong were right, grace wouldn't be necessary.
Grace doesn't deny wrong. Grace is a way of dealing with wrong that believes in the power of God's love. It believes in the glory of His forgiveness. It believes in the reality of heart and life transformation. Don't move toward your neighbor with judgment made and mind closed. Move with open-hearted love and watch what God can do.
