What does it mean to truly live by grace? This basic concept of our faith is really not a concept at all, but a Person. So how can you know if your church exhibits the defining characteristic of the God we worship? Tim Wright, Executive Pastor of Community Church of Joy, recognizes that churches often have difficulty embodying grace. He tells his own stories to help church leaders not do more, but become more—by accepting and passing on the grace they have received…so that others may be changed.Tim Wright:
When did you begin to apply the concept of grace to ministry?
Tim Wright: In the first years of my ministry, our church rightfully focused on meeting the needs of Baby Boomers who were disconnected from the church. Practical messages on family, relationships and work seemed to be most relevant to them. All of which are vitally important issues but they are also often dealt with by applying principles. And, when presented with a set of principles, man-kind easily falls in to the mindset of "I can fix-it on my own" eliminating the need for a Savior.
Today's generation is not into the "how to" stuff. They desire relationships, and grace speaks directly to that longing. Grace is a relationship word. I am, now, far more interested in talking about how accepting grace propels us into God honoring and compassion-filled relationships with our friends, neighbors and business associates.
I am, you might say, a typical first-born kid. I tend to always think I'm right. That can lead to being critical, judgmental and legalistic. I know I need grace—desperately.
How do you define grace?
TW: The primary thrust of God's message, to us, is grace. It is an unconditional pardon that has been extended to each and every one of us, no matter what. It doesn't make a difference who you are or what you have done—grace can be yours. No other religion offers it and with out it there is no hope, no Savior, no forgiveness. It is only Christianity that offers all three. God has lovingly chosen to offer us grace because there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. It is the abundance of his grace, which he has chosen to lavish on us, that transforms us and nothing else.
How does that translate into how you actually do ministry?
TW: The way to talk about grace is not through a set of listed principles, but through real life stories of people who pass grace to others. I have made a shift from asking, "How do you live?" to illustrating gracious living. There needs to be an awareness of the tendency to fall into behaviorism, which is living from lists, rather than focusing on relationships.
How did you recognize the need to make this shift?
TW: God wired all of us differently and so awakening happens in different ways for people. For me, I often find my spirit is stirred when reading books like Philip Yancey's, What's So Amazing about Grace? or Mike Yaconelli's, Messy Spirituality. Also, involving myself in authentic relationships with people and choosing to let down my barriers, even as a religious leader, quickly awakens me to my desperate need for grace.
Truthfully, it is much easier to preach principle-oriented, propositional-oriented sermons if you were raised as a boomer, which I was. I have purposely changed my preaching style to be more teaching oriented. I try to paint pictures with words, rather than give a list of steps.
If you move from principle to story, one implication is you do not try to control how people apply the message to their lives, right?
I intentionally encourage, my folks, with grace and the gospel. It, however, is God who gently invites them into a grace experience. The first time someone becomes keenly aware of God's compassion, attitudes change. They start inviting friends and exhibiting an eagerness to participate in ministry—like never before.
Our church is going through a bit of a financial challenge right now. This weekend, we talked to the church about it. Two years ago when we went through something similar, our folks hardly responded at all. This time, though, they gave more than we ever anticipated. This tells me they are starting to get grace, and they are expressing grace through generosity. I believe a significant change is beginning to happen.
What should a pastor do to see this happen in their church?
TW: Healthy individual prayer and devotional time are vital to experiencing change, church wide. Each person, within the church, needs to spend intimate time in the throne room of grace experiencing his great compassion, listening intently to the God of grace, because he is the only source of true transformation.
The leaders of the church must recognize, accept and then live out grace if there is any hope in flooding the church with grace-filled followers of Christ. Therefore, the mission of any good leader should be to help other leaders enter into "grace mode"—whether it is by reading about grace, preaching grace, or getting into intimate small groups to talk about grace.
Another component to passing on the legacy of grace is the worship service. Examine carefully your worship service and assess not only what is communicated, but how it is communicated. Are the hymns and choruses demand-oriented or relationship-oriented? Are they God-focused or me-focused? Is the message about what I have to do or about what God pleasures in doing?
How does that resonate with those who are so far away from God?
TW: There are some people who come to a worship experience because a friend has invited them and respond because they have already been longing for a relationship. But others do not even know they have any craving, whatsoever. Perhaps, they respond to an invitation, from friends, to have dinner, and their friends pray before the meal and then chat about life having no agenda. It will be those actively building relationships who witness people entering into the kingdom, and that brings us back to grace. It is as simple as that.
Grace is about relationships and not about principles. Grace directly influences how we chose to live and experience life.
