I am not suggesting that we should “sin boldly so that grace might abound” but that God is not only not defeated by our sinfulness, even betrayal, but can use it redemptively. How might this look in a contemporary church setting.
Calvary Church felt betrayed. Many members were so dispirited that they considered leaving the church altogether. Their pastor of two years turned out to be an embezzler and had run off with their fifty thousand dollar building fund. The official board was in a vindictive mood as it met to consider what they could do to recover their losses. Talk was fast and furious of hiring private investigators to trace down their vanished pastor and lawyers to sue for recovery and to protect themselves.
But then something happened. Someone said that he now knew how Jesus felt when Judas betrayed him. Another responded in puzzelment, “You know, that betrayal led to the cross by which I am saved. Do you suppose God could redeem this betrayal as well?” They began to ask themselves what Christ might say to them through this experience. “What if,” asked one, “Christ is speaking to us about the power of greed in our own lives and in the life of this church?”
“I was going to say,” responded another, “that I have never stolen fifty thousand dollars from anyone but now that you speak of the power of greed, I have to admit that I have never tithed either. I guess if that ten percent belongs to God, you might say that I have stolen from God.” “Maybe we feel so betrayed,” said another, “because we depend too much on pastors to live our faith for us.” “Right,”said another. “He was wrong but maybe because of his error, Christ might wake us up to being more responsible ourselves.” “What about our decision to hire a private investigator,” asked one. “I think we can find better things to do with God’s money,” said another. And they all agreed.
None of this is to suggest that the sins of the church or individuals within it are acceptable. What I am trying to suggest is that we may need a new perspective on how God works through a community which is sinful. If God can reveal how God works a saving grace through the church, then we have a powerful message to proclaim to the world which is filled with sin and betrayal.
Perhaps a place to begin may be with the “new covenant” passage in Jeremiah 31:31 where Jeremiah looks on a failed community and proclaims that God is about to create something new. Is it possible that God can forgive a community into truth? Just as an artist can look at an ugly piece of wood and see within it a beautiful work of art which she can reveal, so God looks on the ugliness of humanity which is reflected in the church and sees within it the Kingdom of Heaven which God chooses to bring about through the Artist’s tool of forgiveness. “He is head of the body, the church “for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things … by making peace through the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:18-19) What a delightful transformation if a church or a denomination did not approach the world trumpeting its accomplishments but rather confessing its sins. What an amazing example this could be for corporations and nations to follow to reach the fullness of their potential.
