DISPENSING GOD'S GRACE

We are to administer, or "dispense," God's grace... The image brings to mind one of the old-fashioned "atomizers" women used before the perfection of spray technology.  Squeeze a rubber bulb, and droplets of perfume come shooting out of the fine holes at the other end.  A few drops suffice for a whole body, a few pumps change the atmosphere in a room.   That is how grace should work, I think.  It does not convert the entire world or an entire society, but it does enrich the atmosphere.

Now I worry that the prevailing image of Christians has changed from that of a perfume atomizer to a different spray apparatus: the kind used by insect exterminators.  There's a roach!  Pump, spray, pump, spray.  There's a spot of evil!  Pump, spray, pump, spray.  Some Christians I know have taken on the task of "moral exterminator" for the evil-infested society around them.

I share a deep concern for our society.  I am struck, though, by the alternative power of mercy as demonstrated by Jesus, who came for the sick and not the well, for the sinners and not the righteous.  Jesus never countenanced evil, but he did stand ready to forgive it.  Somehow, he gained the reputation as a lover of sinners, a reputation that followers are in danger of losing today.  As Dorothy Day put it, "I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least."

-- Philip Yancey in What's So Amazing About Grace?


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