Jason Salamun

If grace is true, it changes everything.

If grace is true, it changes me.

If grace is true, then going the extra mile is the norm.

If grace is true, then my tips are more than the waitress deserves.

If grace is true, it means I will forgive all those who hurt me.

If grace is true, then I would give my full attention to each person I come across today.

If grace is true, then I wouldn’t withhold my encouragement to another.

if grace is true, then I wouldn’t try to avoid certain people.

If grace is true, then I would accept every Facebook friend request that another human sends me.

If grace is true, then I will seek to give more and spend less.

If grace is true, then I will give that homeless guy downtown a few bucks even if I think he’d spend it unwisely.

If grace is true, then I would treat people who love me the same as people who don’t.

If grace is true, then I wouldn’t cut people off in traffic or hurry and beat someone else for a parking spot.

If grace is true, then I would not play favorites.

If grace is true, then I don’t believe in just second chances but a million chances.

If grace is true, then Christ gets 100% of me and nothing less.

If grace is true, hope always remains.

How has grace changed you?

Last Wednesday evening, we discovered one of our own from our church had gone missing.  Police were notified, friends were called, prayers were prayed, and concern was setting in.

By Thursday, there was still no sign of her, and a number of us began a search party with a mission to find her.

Immediately, my family and I hopped into our mini-van to search or at the very least, get leads.  We went to known hangouts, but our search turned up empty and left us frustrated. We later discovered there was a shooting in one spot we were at just hours before. Searching for someone who’s missing can lead you into dangerous places.

To top it off, my eight-year-old daughter was heartbroken as she was coming to grips with the reality that someone she cares about was missing. We talked and tried to comfort her, but she struggled to understand.  As a dad, sometimes I wonder if I expose my children to too much. Maybe. There’s much they don’t know about, and I want them to enjoy being kids, but for better or worse, moments like this leave a mark. I just pray that they become powerful learning experiences and not indelible scars.

Later, I partnered with someone else and approached a large group of people which turned out to be a hornets nest. They were a gang and they weren’t too thrilled that we were stepping into their zone.  Threats were made, names were called, but in the middle of it all, a handful of tender-hearted members acknowledged that if someone they loved were missing, they would search relentlessly too.  They took the flyer and said they’d keep an eye out.

We drove around some more and found another crew of teens in a random parking lot. They were mostly a party crowd who hid their drinks when they saw my mini-van approach.  As I stepped out of the van and into their conglomerate, the stench of weed was obvious and the group of thirty kids or so were instantly defensive. I reassured them I was not their to bust them but rather, I needed their help finding a missing girl. A few dudes put their hands in their pocket leading me to believe they were ready to pounce if need be, but others seemed concerned when they recognized our missing girl from the photo.

They asked if I was her dad. I replied, “No. I’m her pastor and friend and just want to return her home safely.”  Bewildered, someone piped up, “A pastor? What kind of church goes out looking for someone who’s missing?”Apparently, the notion of a church stepping into the middle of a mess was unusual.  Perhaps they’re right. They were cordial as we departed, and promised to call if they ran into her throughout the evening. They never did. But I can’t help but wonder if some perceptions were changed in the process.

We stepped into other hairy situations that made me feel uncomfortable yet made me think of Jesus. About how he stepped into a mess to rescue me. About how he is a God who pursues- as evidenced in his incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. Jesus said he came “to seek and save that which was lost.”  In Luke 15, we see a God who leaves the found to search for the lost. We see his passion to pursue his people.  This is the beauty of amazing grace.

Late Saturday afternoon, our missing girl was found by the police walking on the side of the road. It turns out she had runaway, but was making her way home.

When we got the news, relief set in, followed by joy.  She was okay.

On Sunday night, my friends threw a BBQ to celebrate her return. They wanted to model God’s grace that’s found in the parable of the Prodigal Son. We’ve always said we wanted to be a church with grace on tap and my friends understood this was a moment to display it.

There’s a long road of healing ahead, but my prayer is that God will use this situation for good.

In fact, he already is.

Sports fans everywhere are outraged following the butchered call by baseball umpire Jim Joyce in Detriot Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga’s quest for a perfect game.

Immediately, Twitter and other social media sites were abuzz about the injustice that occurred with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Less than a day later, Jim Joyce and Armando Galarraga are the top trending topics on Google and blogs like this one are all over the place.

That single play in a baseball game, and the subsequent public reaction, reveal much about our collective humanity. Innate within us is a common thread that is woven in us all- even the tribe of us barbaric, male sports fans.

We crave justice. When Jim Joyce signaled the base-runner safe, all those who watched felt something. That something is the common thread we all share: that wrongs must be made right.

The theological term is justification. It’s what the world feels about the current oil spill in the gulf coast, or the mistreatment of women and children caught up in the sex slavery, or the destruction that hit the nation of Haiti. Wrongs must be righted. And for a brief moment in a baseball game, we all agreed on what was wrong: the missed call.

Why?…

Nobody’s perfect. If we’re honest, we know that in us, and in this world, something is not right.  That something is amiss. Unlike baseball players, baseball umpires are expected to bat a thousand.  The problem is they’re humans. And we humans are simultaneously created good yet are born flawed beings. We make mistakes. We miss the mark.

But…

True repentance is a thing of beauty. Umpire Jim Joyce is a class act.  ESPN reports how he handled his big oops:

“Galarraga bitterly sipped a beer minutes after the blown call negated his place in baseball history. An apology and hug changed his attitude after Joyce, in tears, asked for a chance to apologize [emphasis mine]…. ‘It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the [stuff] out of it,’ Joyce said, looking and sounding distraught as he paced in the umpires’ locker room. ‘I just cost that kid a perfect game.’

Jim Joyce didn’t let his pride get in the way, make excuses, or defer to a PR firm. He owned his mistake, admitted it for all to see, and attempted to make things right with the one he wronged. Leonard Cohen once sang, “When they said repent…I wonder what they meant.” Well, Mr. Cohen, I believe this is what they meant.

Finally…

Nothing’s more powerful than forgiveness. Forgiveness rights the wrong of another even when they don’t deserve it. It wipes clean a debt that’s owed. Forgiveness is not fair and that’s what makes it good. It’s the wonder of amazing grace.

Armando Galarraga displayed grace as he immediately publicly forgave Joyce. According to Tonic.com:

“When a Detroit Free Press reporter approached Galarraga in the locker room after the game and informed him that Joyce felt truly terrible and apologized for the botched call, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the pitcher used the opportunity to call Joyce every name in the book.

But this amazing pitcher chose not to do that. Instead, he showed him something much different: forgiveness.

‘Tell him no problem,’ Galarraga told the Free Press. ‘I can go tell him.’

Then he smiled. ‘I should probably talk to him. It will be better.’ And he did.”

Author Philip Yancey writes, “Grace baffles us because it goes against the intuition that everyone has that, in the face of injustice, some price must be paid.” Forgiveness is not easy, but it’s necessary to survive with people who sin against us and those we sin against. There’s no peace and reconciliation without forgiveness.

When it comes to our relationship with God, all of us have fallen short. Nobody’s perfect. Our craving for justice, to right wrongs, mirrors that of our Creator.  We have wronged against God and someone must pay.

Thankfully, God became a man in Jesus Christ and took the blame for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that “For our sake God made him who knew no sin, to become sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  That, my friends, is good news. That’s the gospel of grace.  On the cross, the keg of God’s grace was tapped and is available to all. All we have to do is put our faith in him and follow him.  In light of this amazing grace, we live our lives and offer it to others.

Grace.

This is what we learned from a Wednesday night baseball game in Detroit.

Blogger Dave Ingland asked me and others to answer three questions on the church for an upcoming blog series.

Here are his three questions and my replies.

What do you think? How would you answer?

1) How would you define the (local) church?

In a nutshell, the local church is a community of sinners saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who join God in his mission in the world.

Symbolically of course, the Church is referred to as the Body of Christ, Bride of Christ,and Family of God. Scripture gives us purposes, distinctions, and directions on how we are to function and organize but to answer your question, I’ll stick with my simple answer.

2) Is the church relevant? Why?

Five to ten years ago I would have said, “no.” The music is outdated, the dress code is too stuffy, the church buildings are on the cutting edge of 1890, etc. I’d refer to myself as a “Christ Follower” instead of a “Christian” because I didn’t want to be connected to THOSE people.

I was immature.

Many of us were.

Many of us still are.

A church is relevant because the gospel is (I’m assuming a genuine church is a gospel-centered church). The message is unchanging and relevant but communicating the message will depend on your culture. Speak the language but don’t change the message.

I’m all for contextualizing the gospel to our culture but it’s so much more than cool lights, killer environments, and pop worship. Frankly, a traditional church service full of liturgy can be just as (or more) “relevant” as a rock show worship experience. As I look out at the church planting landscape, I’m seeing a bunch of cookie-cutter “relevant” churches who somehow believe their graphic t-shirts and a coffee bars are the good news.  Sad. So sad.

Throwing a pair of hipster jeans on the gospel doesn’t make it relevant.

The gospel is about a King and a Kingdom.

Every community is different but I do know this: love is relevant in any language. Jesus doesn’t need make-up to be attractive to our culture, he is to be lifted up and he said he would draw people to himself (John 12:32).

I’m not against creating environments, talking plainly, having modern music etc., (our church does that), but I think “relevance” as we know it is superficial at best. It’s so much more than style and preferences. I think our generation needs to understand the gospel better and learn how to diagnose idolatry in their culture and people’s hearts and treat it with the gospel. Show people how they fit into God’s epic story. That’s relevant to any people in any time, and any place.

P.S. Nothing is sadder than a middle-aged pastor wearing his college kids clothes and trying to talk Snoop in a sermon. That’s not relevant, that’s goofy.

3) Do you see the church looking different in the future? Please explain.

I believe in the church because I believe in Jesus.

This defeatist attitude we have about the church in the west is pathetic. We already know how this will all end! We are the Body of Christ! He said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The question is, do we believe it?

In the future, just as in the past, churches will gather in various expressions and models and forms, but we all have the same mission: Make disciples who love God and people. From house churches to mega-churches, from traditional churches to contemporary churches and everything in between, we need them all. The point isn’t to build the Church, the Lord will do that. The point is to point people to him.

I don’t know about tomorrow but I know about today. The future is a product of the present. We were born for such a time as this and the need for the gospel has never been greater. The time is now!

Imagine if churches followed Jesus and lived out passages like Luke 4:18-19,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

That’s a future I want to help create!

The return of Michael Vick to the NFL has a lot of people talking.

Everything from “He deserves a second chance” to “This is a complete outrage!.”

Vick did some horrific, inhumane things to dogs.

I’m a dog lover and just the thought of what he did really fires me up.

His punishment was severe: 18 months in prison, millions of dollars lost, and a scarlet letter.

Now the question is: does he deserve to return to the NFL?

I suppose it depends on if you believe in grace and forgiveness.

I do.

I have no choice- I’m a Christian.

The question isn’t about whether Michael Vick deserves to return.

He doesn’t deserve anything, none of us do.

But he can receive a second chance.

Not because he’s so great, but because grace is.

The thing about grace is this: It’s not fair!

In Jesus, we get forgiveness not by what we do or don’t do but through what he did for us.

We had nothing to do with it.

As followers of Jesus, we are to have grace on tap.

Giving love and forgiveness to all- even those who don’t deserve- even those we would call our enemy.

It’s the scandal of grace.

The implication of this for our lives is we have got to be a people of the gospel of grace.

This is why we love people when they least deserve and least expect it.

This is why we continue to open our arms to those who feel like they’ve blown it…

Because that’s what Christ did for us on the cross.

How dare those of us who’ve been graced we withhold it from others!!!

What Michael Vick did was disgraceful.

Our response should be full of grace.

That is the Jesus way.

And on that note- Go Eagles!!

Churches should be like bars and keep an endless supply of grace on tap.

To a parched world, this life often feels like you’ve been working atop a roof on a scorching, hot day.

Churches can either offer an ice cold drink of grace…

Some sour, warm milk of religion…

Or nothing at all.

Too many offer the latter options.

We need more who offer the first.

Churches are to be paragons of grace.

What is the church but a people united by the gospel of grace found in Jesus?

On the cross, the keg of God’s grace was tapped and is available to all.

Forever overflowing into the empty steins of our lives and churches for a reason:

To receive it and share with others.

People can find better products and services elsewhere.

Better communicators, musicians, facilities, production, children’s environments, you name it.

But no one and nothing should outgrace us!

So you’ve really messed up.

You’ve done things you shouldn’t have done.

Said things you shouldn’t have said.

Thought things you shouldn’t have thought.

Become someone you didn’t intend to become.

Are you responsible for what you’ve done, said, thought, and become?

Absolutely.

You know it.  You’ve owned it. You’re living the ramifications of it.

But.

This chapter of your life does not have to be the story of your life.

Your story is a story of grace.

It’s time to practice what you’ve preached.

The same grace you’ve given others, you now need to receive.

The hero of your story?

Well, it’s not you.

But you know who it is.

Return to Him.

Follow Him around.

He is your confidence.

He is your joy.

He is your better story.

You’ve blown it in a big way.

But God is bigger than your mess.

You think you’ve given a black eye to your cause.

The good news?

No one can kill the cause.

It’s bigger than us.

Your days may seem cloudy but your story is bright.

Not because you’re great.

Because He is.

Wrap your story up in His story.

It enchains you.

It oppresses you.

It manipulates you.

It breathes fire upon you.

It is the dragon of religion.

That dragon called religion is an enemy of the gospel of grace we find in Jesus.

The dragon controls us with fear.

The gospel compels us with love.

The dragon steals joy.

The gospel brings joy.

The dragon captures.

The gospel frees.

For far too long, we’ve allowed the dragon to dwell among us.

Some even claim the dragon is one of us.

Others say that if we ride the back of the dragon, it will lead us to paradise.

The dragon is sneaky.

Somehow this hideous creature can go unnoticed.

But it leaves a footprint.

It’s shaped like hopelessness or pride.

Some of us will hate ourselves when we don’t think we’re good enough. (Hopelessness)

Others of us will worship ourselves and think we’re better than the rest. (Pride)

Pride is what got the serpent known as satan booted from Heaven.

As recipients, bearers, and communicators of the gospel, we are to be on guard for the dragon.

When we come across that nasty dragon…

Slay it.

With grace.

After all, it’s not about what you’ve done.

It’s about what’s been done for you.

By the King of kings.

In the presence of the King…

Pride is replaced with humility.

Hopelessness is replaced with hope.

And the dragon of religion is replaced by the grace of God.

That’s good news.

When was the last time your mind was changed by what you read in scripture?

Growing up, I had beliefs that contradicted the bible.

For example:

As a young lad, I had this notion that everyone will get a chance to accept Jesus when they die and escape hell.

I had nothing to base it on except my own rationale  and hopes.

But then I studied my bible.

It was clear in the teachings of Jesus that some will experience eternal hell.

And even though I didn’t like it, I accepted it, and now find myself pleading for people to love and follow Jesus.

The bible changed my mind.

I had the same experience when I realized how real grace was and how bad religion is.

I once had that mixed up too.

I thought religion was good and grace was a cop out.

How else would people be motivated to do the right thing?

Then the bible changed my mind.

I discovered love was a better motivator than fear.

Not to mention grace is poured all over the bible like gravy on mashed potatoes.

You can’t escape it.

Grace is real, wonderful, and yes, amazing.

Today, I’m studying a few controversial issues through the lens of scripture.

I could list them and open a can of worms, but I’m not.

Maybe another time.

The point of this post is to simply ask:

When was the last time the Bible changed your mind?

Just wondering if there are others like me.

Other people and places will do a lot of things better than the church.

U2 concerts have better production (and music) than the church.

United Way helps more people than the church.

Disneyworld has more entertaining kids environments than the church.

Neighborhood bars often have better community than the church.

Facebook has a better online presence than the church.

I could go on.

But.

There’s one thing the church has to offer that no one else has.

Grace.

Because of Jesus.

No people or place should outdo the church on grace.

Ironically, it’s not what folks generally associate the church with.

Sad.

Sad indeed.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

As you focus on your systems to improve your church experience.

Remember this.

Someone, somewhere, is doing it all better than you.

But what they can’t do…

Is outgrace you.

Or can they?

I guess the answer is up to you.