"An Economy of Grace"
God’s
freely given grace is a humiliation to the ego because free gifts say
nothing about being strong, superior, or moral. Thus only the soul can
understand grace, never the mind or the ego. The ego does not know how
to receive things freely or without logic. It likes to be worthy and
needs to understand in order to accept things as true. The ego prefers a
worldview of scarcity or quid pro quo, where only the clever can win.
That problem—and its overcoming—is at the very center of the Gospel plot
line. It has always been overcome from God’s side. The only problem is
getting us in on the process! God’s inclusion of all, including us, reveals God’s
humility, graciousness, and love. Only inside an economy of grace can we
see that God wants free and willing
partners. An economy of merit cannot process free love or free anything.
“Not servants, but friends” (John 15:15)
is God’s plan. Yet to this day, most Christians seem to prefer being
servants. Doing for others so they can do for you! Actual divine friendship, loving with pay back is just too incredible to imagine.
If
we’re honest, culture forms us much more than the Gospel. It seems we
have kept the basic storyline of human history in place rather than
allow the Gospel to reframe and redirect the story. Except for those who
have experienced grace at their core, Christianity has not created a
“new mind” (Romans 12:2) or a “new self” (Ephesians 4:23-24) that is
significantly different than the cultures it inhabits. The old, tired
win/lose scenario seems to be in our cultural hard drive,
whereas the experience of grace at the core of reality, which is much
more imaginative and installs new win/win programs in our psyche, has
been neglected and unrecognized by most of Christianity. People who live
their entire lives inside of a system of competing, measuring, earning,
counting, and performing can’t understand how the win/win scenario of
the Gospel would even be interesting or attractive.
Up
to now, Christianity has largely mirrored culture instead of
transforming it. Reward/punishment, good guys versus bad guys, has been
the plot line of most novels, plays, operas, movies, and wars. This is
the only way that a dualistic mind, unrenewed by prayer and grace, can
perceive reality. It is almost impossible to switch this mind during a
short sermon or
service on a Sunday
morning. As long as we remain inside of a dualistic, win/lose script,
Christianity will continue to appeal to low-level and vindictive
moralisms and will not rise to the mystical banquet that Jesus offered
us. The spiritual path and life itself will be mere duty instead of
delight, “jars of purification” instead of 150 gallons of intoxicating
wine at the end of the party (John 2:6-10). We will focus on maintaining
order by sanctified violence instead of moving toward a higher order of
love and healing—which is the very purpose of the Gospel.
By grace I am saved.
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media: 2008), 156-157, 159, 177.
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