Adventures in Living: by Jason Salamun

Project Church is not organized around religion.

We’re centered on Jesus.

There’s a big difference.

Religion ends with guilt.

Jesus begins with forgiveness.

Religion adds burdens.

Jesus carries burdens.

Religion enslaves.

Jesus frees.

Religion is about what I have to do.

Jesus is about what he has done.

Religion sees us vs. them.

Jesus sees us.

Religion leads to pride.

Jesus leads to humility.

Religion is salvation by morality.

Jesus is our salvation.

Religion brings religious institutions.

Jesus brings movements of love.

Religion separates itself from the world.

Jesus steps into the world.

Religion is about rules.

Jesus is about grace.

Religion tries to change people.

Jesus changes people.

Religion produces self-righteousness.

Jesus is our righteousness.

Religion points a finger.

Jesus took the blame.

Religion makes judgmental hypocrites.

Jesus changes judgmental hypocrites.

Religion lost.

Jesus won.

Religion’s no match for Jesus.

I’m on a quest to live free.

I struggle with that.

It’s hard to believe freedom is real.

It’s even harder to live it out.

Freedom is love without condition.

Freedom is God’s great gift to us.

We just have a problem receiving it.

At least I do.

But I’m learning.

To walk in the paradox of grace and truth.

To walk with Jesus.

To live like a free man.

To love like a free man.

This is my great voyage.

Despite myself.

Despite other lovers of my soul.

Despite religion.

Jesus set me free from all that.

He set you free too.

Let’s figure out what that means.

Live Free.

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:  ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Galatians 5:13-14 (ESV)

If you’re like me you have things you wish you didn’t do.  You also have things you wish you did do.

We call these things regrets.

Regrets are a nagging mistress.  She pesters you, eats away at you, motivates you with guilt.

Dump your mistress.

You don’t have to live with her anymore.

There’s a better companion.

Her name is grace.  She forgives you, restores you, motivates you with love.

No, you don’t deserve her.

But she’s yours anyway.

Embrace grace.

She’s a much better companion to live with.

“What an abyss is the grace of God! Who can measure its breadth? Who can fathom its depth? Like all the rest of the divine attributes, it is infinite.”- Charles H. Spurgeon

There are many enemies of grace but one casts a large shadow.

This enemy is shared by both religious people and unbelievers. It’s a lie that, if believed, will prevent you and I from experiencing the abyss that is the grace of God. It’s a notion that seems harmless but will rob us from the joy of salvation by grace.

Religious people often believe that they’re good people and thus deserve salvation. Because they hold themselves in high esteem, it’s easy to cast judgment on those “bad people” who aren’t as good as them. They take pride when they are good. They are in despair when they aren’t.

Unbelievers often believe that if the “Good stuff I’ve Done vs. Bad stuff I’ve Done” chart leans toward the good, they will be rewarded. Either in this life in some form of karma or in heaven after this life.

Both miss grace.

While it’s good to be good and do good. The truth is, none of us are good enough.

However, there is a good God who gave his son Jesus to be good enough for us.

Unless we’re willing to get real before God and can admit how much we’ve messed up in thought, word, and deed, we will never quite get grace.

But those who see how depraved they really are. How much they’ve blown it. How imperfect they truly are. They are the ones who begin to understand the great abyss that is God’s grace because they know the abyss that is their own sin. They are the ones who love Jesus because of the great love he has shown them. This doesn’t lead to pride and despair. It leads to joy. Humble joy.

So what is the nemesis of grace?

Self-righteousness.

The good news?

Grace can make self-righteousness tap out.

Grace wins.

Recently, I wrote a story that I told to our church.

It’s a simple love story that represents something more profound than my mere words can describe. A tale of pursuit between a Savior and his bride. The beautiful, dangerous, and central message of Jesus.

The gospel.

The gospel literally means, “the good news” yet the term has been stained by the dung of religious bigots, the lies of nutty televangelists, and the hypocrisy of everyday followers of Jesus like me.

You see, I don’t fully believe the gospel.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in the life, crucifixion, resurrection, and reign of Jesus. That he died on the cross, in my place, for my sins. But I struggle to believe in the wonder of grace. The truth that sets us free. The hope that keeps us going. The love that knows no bounds.

I can’t wrap my head around the fact that Christ loves me so much that he gave up his life so I might have life.

But I’m learning.

I’m learning that I can never experience how amazing grace is unless I realize how spectacular my sins are. While I’m a great sinner, the good news is, Christ is a greater Savior.

In him, we have a God who loves us enough to enter our story to rescue and redeem us from the mess we’re living in. A God who says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18).

Religion omits the “white as snow” part but not the gospel. And the gospel is so much better than religion.

I hope this story helps you uncover the magnificent scandal that is the gospel.

Download (pdf)

There are days when my heart is as “Cold as Ice” as 80’s artists Hall & Oates would say.  This has bothered me because the things that should break my heart didn’t.  Real Jesus-like, I know.

My prayer over the last several years is that God would thaw my heart.  That He would break my heart for the people around me and for my city.

The ice is melting.

It’s like God has given me new eyes to see.  And there are days that it crushes me. I can see hurt in others much clearer now.  I see needs that I overlooked before.  I can’t even read the local newspaper anymore without being broken-hearted about what’s going on around me.

My wife and I were engaged in a conversation with a young couple recently.  The gal had gone to church most of her life.  She knew lots about God. But when the topic of God’s grace came up- she broke down.  She had some pretty crummy things done to her and things she had done to herself.  And in all her years of going to church, she had never grasped God’s grace.  The single greatest message we have and somehow- week after week- she didn’t hear this good news at church.  She could however tell us the “to do’s” and “not to do’s” of being a Christian.

My heart broke for her.  What makes me sadder is I can tell she wants to believe it- but thinks its too good to be true.  In reality, nothing can be more true than grace.  God can not love her any more or less than he does right now.  He loves her as she is and not as she should be.  And He has a life of meaning for her beyond the “do’s” and “don’ts”.  She fully comprehends how much she’s blown it. Now all she needs is to believe how much God loves her.  I’m praying for her to believe what she so desperately wants to believe.

On this relational journey, I hope my heart will remain soft and break often for people.  That I not somehow end up jaded, religious, self-righteous, self-centered, judgmental, and frozen.

I’m discovering that the best way to keep the ice from forming on my heart is to do what Jesus said: Love God and people.