Seeing Jesus in the Church
- Larry Kutzler
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Recently, I was talking with a friend about his status of being divorced. He is a committed Christian, but after many years of going to counseling trying to save his marriage, it ended in divorce. Many of his closest friends were Christians, and many of them did life with him and his wife over the years, and suddenly they were no longer speaking to him … all because he now had this status of divorce. Many people experience this kind of hurt among Church friends, and it has become known as ‘Church Hurt.’ One author said, ‘Church Hurt’ is because we practice less of Jesus in the modern Church. That prompted me to post this:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the Cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” He was referring to how we change the Gospel into something the Bible does not recognize. Recently, I read a quote of an author who said, “There is not enough Jesus in the Church,” and it stuck. I then asked myself, “Is there enough Jesus in me?” A friend told me as a divorced person, that he lost friendships over his status … no wonder Jesus is seen less in the Church. Cheap grace is representing religious standards that aren’t merciful … is it any wonder Jesus is missing in some Churches? The Book of Romans Chapter 8, identifies those in Christ as people who have no condemnation regardless of status … that is how we see more of Jesus in the Church. ~Larry Kutzler, Facebook Post
Cheap grace can also be defined as when we react to people in a way that is more damaging to the character of Christ because of unforgiveness. If there was one characteristic that stands out about Jesus, it is His forgiveness … there is nothing cheap about it. The Apostle Paul brings this idea of permanent forgiveness into focus, when he says, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” Again, we acknowledge our failure when we recognize this quote, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Listen, there are no perfect Churches, and there are no perfect followers of Christ. This does not give us a license to sin … it just means we do sin and need Christ’s forgiveness to be a constant factor in our lives. So, when we encounter people who ostracized fellow Christians because of a moral failure, or they remove the friendship support, are we not practicing ‘cheap grace.’
Last Thought
It is sin that brings failure into our lives, and it is also sin that makes us judge. Which one is worse … failure to live in mercy, or our quickness to judge? Today, one of the tragedies in the modern Church is that when we fail to be known by the mercy of the Cross, and people see more by of our hypocrisy in our personal theology.
Let’s bring the Jesus of the Bible back into the pew, and let’s make the pulpit a place where Jesus is honored.
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler