graceland
Graceland is an estate in Memphis, TN, that Elvis Presley purchased in 1957. Posthumously turned into a museum and a tribute to the man dubbed the “King of Rock n Roll”, it is now reportedly the second-most visited private residence in the United States (behind the White House). Hundreds of thousands of people go there every year.
I’ve never been to Graceland, but like most places of its kind, there’s only so much time you can spend there. Even the most ardent Elvis fan would probably get bored if he lived there 24/7/365. It is a tourist attraction; you visit it, then you go home.
Unfortunately, it appears that Christianity has its own Graceland.
In the comments on my last post, iggy observed correctly that:
. . . often I see that after one comes to Grace, then more “rules and laws” are added . . .
And therein lies the problem. The Christian version of Graceland has been cheapened to a brief stop between a tour of Sun Studios and a ride on a riverboat.
Paul noted that (emphasis mine):
. . . the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
The Christian Graceland is not a pit stop. You do not run by God’s house to borrow a cup of grace until you can get back to the law store and stock up on some more of those tasty commandments. Nor does grace end with a visit to the museum store to buy some short haircuts, long skirts, and a couple of hymnbooks that will start gathering dust before you’ve been back in your “normal” life for three days.
One of the main themes in the book of Hebrews is to help the Jewish Christians of that era see that returning to following the law is a total rejection of Christ’s work. As has been said, “Jesus plus anything ruins everything.”
Perhaps it has something to do with the boredom (with the Memphis Graceland) to which I alluded earlier. We feel like we can’t just stand there, but we have to do something. So we try to pay God back. And in doing so, we don’t merely insult Him. We defiantly tell Him that what He did was insufficient.
Yes, we all are responsible for Christ’s death. And so, in a way, it wasn’t just Roman guards that spit in His face — we all did. But that doesn’t mean that we need to continue to do so.
You don’t visit Graceland. You stay there. Forever.
February 17th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
A very well written post, Brendt. It is impossible to fully understand grace, all we can do is be eternally grateful.
February 17th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I agree completely. The problem that I see however, is on the opposite side. Many claim grace and belief in Christ without having a hatred towards sin.
Don’t confuse hatred for sin as “adding laws.”
This confusion is frequently done by many “Christians” who claim grace for themselves without claiming a hatred for sin.
February 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Inq,
I only hate the sins that don’t affect me.
February 17th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Phil. stop foreshadowing.
February 17th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
“I only hate the sins that don’t affect me. ”
Good point. With me that only leaves homosexuality and pedeophilia. All the rest I kinda hate but have a personal compassion about because I understand my struggle. But those other two I can feely hate and sometimes even bleed over to the sinner. I have heard some even suggest we are to hate the sinner.
I must have missed that at Golgotha.
February 17th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Inq,
Sin was dealt with… now we face Life in Christ or death without Christ.
The Cross took away the sins of the world.
All we have now is the choice to choose Christ or not.
When we choose Christ, the “Christian” life is not about “stopping sinning” but growing in the Grace and Knowledge of Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)
In that we will stop sinning and exchange error for truth and grow. Some people will struggle and some will not. But, as a child of God, it is God that makes things grow and the holy Spirit that leads us in all truth and the fellowship of the brethren as we take note of those who live according to the way He gave us.
If our focus is our sin, then we never let Jesus take them. Man naturally steers where he looks and if one’s focus is their sin, they will steer toward it instead of Christ. That is why we are to count ourselves “dead to sin” and “alive to Christ”.
iggy
February 17th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Iggy,
I agree. however, like you said, “in that we WILL stop sinning” it’s not a matter of might, or maybe, it’s WILL. He who is in Christ IS a new creation.
I’m just warning those who dismiss sin and don’t hate it like they should. Those who don’t hate sin do not have Christ.
The danger comes when people claim to love Christ, and yet easily dismiss sin as if it were no big deal.