Truth or Grace?

Grace and truth have been coming to my mind and ears quite a bit recently.  I heard the message in a great talk on leadership. A day later, I heard grace and truth at a talk at school. I suppose the message is emphasized because of the culture we live in. We see both ends of the spectrum, but rarely to we get a balanced picture.

So, to my kids, I try to balance truth and grace, because leading them to either end of the spectrum gives them a false view of life. 

If I speak all grace, my kids would be lost. They would be eaten up by this world. Think about it. Complete forgiveness for all actions would lead to a false belief system of the world. No consequences for actions. Only complete forgiveness.  No accountability. They would view the world full of indifference, with the mindset that actions don’t matter. Only give grace. No telling where they would end up, but they certainly would be in for a constant struggle.

On the other end of the spectrum, if I speak only truth, I would raise strict rules-followers. My kids would have the belief that they needed to stay within the rules, the guidelines to be loved. They would naturally judge others by their actions, the same way they were judged. Life would be some type of competition to see who could live the closest to the truth in order to be the best.  Accountability would be extreme, consequences would be paid for actions.

I had a discussion this week on the belief systems of generations this week. I am told that I am part of Generation X. Growing up in the deep south, I heard the truth end of the spectrum. I stress the words “I heard,” because I don’t believe this is what I was taught. Our culture, our way of life pointed us to truth. I believed the key to being a believer in Jesus was rules based. I would have never articulated it this way, but it is what I believed. I didn’t need to cuss, cheat, lie, drink alcohol, smoke, and I never needed to miss church. Living focused on truth would keep me in good standing with God.

This discussion caused me to think about my kids, Gen Z, and the culture they are growing up in. They are growing up in a world with no absolute truth.  They are growing up in a culture of grace. Complete forgiveness for everyone for everything. There is no absolute truth, after all. Each person has their own rules, regulations, and we need to recognize  that. There are no consequences for actions, only grace. Do anything, forgiveness awaits.

Truth is a great thing. It creates a society of order. Grace is a great thing. It creates a non-judgmental world of forgiveness.

The impossible part is finding the perfect balance between truth and grace. There has only been one that could do this, Jesus. John 1:14 says that he was “full of grace and truth.”

Consider his actions.

Full of grace. The woman caught in adultery being ridiculed by culture. Complete forgiveness. The tax payer who cheated and stole his way to wealth. Complete forgiveness. The thief on the cross hanging next to him. Complete forgiveness. The parable of the lost son. A picture of complete forgiveness. The parable of the one lost sheep. Complete forgiveness. The Samaritan woman at the well. Complete forgiveness.

Full of truth. Jesus calls the teachers of the law “blind guides” because their actions didn’t match what they were teaching. He called the Pharisees hypocrites because they looked great on the outside, but inside they were full of “greed and self-indulgence.” He told the rich young ruler that, to have life, he had to be willing to leave his wealth. He never walked away from the message of truth.

As I look at culture, both ends of the spectrum ring in my ear. Culture tackles actions with lack of truth. Culture tackles truth with lack of grace.

And, so do I. I miss it every day. I can’t balance truth and grace.

There is only one perfect person that walked on the earth that had the perfect balance. I want to point my kids to that person, not to me.  Only in him will they find the key to life.

Impact others. Live generously.