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In the realm of Christianity, a question often lingers in the minds of believers:
“How much can I sin and still be a good Christian?”
Please tell me I’m not the only one that has ever asked that question and played that theological game — or it’s dear cousin: It’s okay, God’s going to forgive me anyhow.
The pitfalls of 'cheap grace'
It's a perilous game, accompanied by the notion that God's forgiveness will absolve any transgressions. This phenomenon, known as 'cheap grace,' stems from a lack of understanding and appreciation for the true nature of grace. So let’s look at the full journey of grace and the profound impact it can have on our lives.
I think part of why we cheapen grace is that it sounds too good to be true. We don’t really know what to do with it. We end up treating grace like how I treat my collectible action figures (not dolls) of superheroes that sit on my shelf: untouched and unopened, collecting dust while increasing its value by pennies each year.
For the most part, I completely forget the figures sit there on my shelf. I’m too busy with work or mindlessly scrolling through social media (are we all on Threads now?) that it’s easy to ignore their existence. Every once in a while, I’ll take them off the shelf to dust them off and then check how many cents they’ve appreciated.
Much like the action figures, we sort of let grace sit there, collecting dust, and pulling it out when desperately needed (kind of like a get-out-of-jail card). Or, like the aforementioned game, we use grace as a license to sin.
I mean, if you don’t sin Christ died for nothing, right?
But if we’re using “grace” as a license to sin (because we’re going to be forgiven anyway), the question we need to ask ourselves is: have I truly experienced God’s grace?
I wonder if we’re prone to misuse grace because we overemphasize the concept of “being saved”.
The journey begins: moving beyond salvation
Growing up “being saved” was the ultimate goal — the end all, be all — of the faith journey. During my undergrad days, I accidentally showed up to a campus ministry event (don’t ask). I realized my mistake when the speaker came forward and began with a “let us pray” and it was too late for me to leave. I also realized that I had given them my information when I walked in (thinking it was a different organization). Following the event, a few folks from this ministry basically ended up stalking me, trying to save my soul because that was their mission: save as many souls as humanly possible (or divinely possible…?)
The odd thing is, once they saved someone’s soul… that was it. They moved on to the next soul. And the new converts were now tasked with saving other people’s souls as well. Looking back, it almost feels like a pyramid scheme…
But they often acted like bullies, resting on the knowledge that they’re saved, ergo they’re set for life (and eternity).
I spent weeks of dodging their emails and phone calls. They finally stopped by my dorm room. When I told them that I wasn’t interested, they asked, “Aren’t you afraid of hell?” And I responded that I’m a Christian, in fact my dad’s a pastor. When I informed them I was part of the Methodist Church they responded with, “That’s not a church that’ll lead you to salvation.”
I told them, I’ll take my chances and they simply responded with, “You’re going to be in Hell for eternity and I can’t fathom anyone who’d want to spend eternity like that.”
To which I responded (brilliantly, if you ask me): If being in heaven means I have to spend eternity with you guys, I’ll take my chances in Hell.
My fundamental disagreement with Christians like those from that campus ministry is that they treat salvation as the goal to achieve, where as I fully believe that “being saved” is the beginning of our journey. We haven’t arrived, we’re just getting started.
Beyond performance: God wants your heart
According to John Wesley, we’re “saved” by justyifying grace — a grace that awakens us to God’s mercy and kindness. This leads us to repentance.
Grace, then, resurrects us to the life that God always intended for us to live. There is a newness of life to explore; to experience; to live.
Our work does not end with reciting the Sinner's Prayer and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (and really, we did not do any work to get saved) and God's work is not finished in us when we are saved. Salvation is not the endgame or goal for any of the parties involved. Salvation marks the beginning of a new journey together, God and us.
Being wrapped in grace gives us freedom — yes — but not the type of freedom that allows us to live our lives however we want; doing whatever we want (because we’re saved!)
The freedom that comes with grace is knowing that we are God’s beloved: there’s nothing we can do to earn God’s love and there’s nothing we can do to lose God’s love. We’re simply loved because God is love.
Trusting, believing and embracing that unshakeable truth frees us to move forward to partner with God in unleashing God’s love and grace throughout our communities. First we were loved, now we love.
When we use grace like a get-out-of-jail card or as a license to sin, we’re embracing a performance-based religion where our actions determine our status. God doesn’t want a performance or a show. God wants your heart; God wants you.
When we trust in that, we simply reorient our lives to live the life we were always intended to live.
Don’t worry too much about being good.
When God created humans, God declared that day very good, so don’t try to modify your behavior by “acting good.” Instead, know that you are loved for simply being you: flaws and all.
Being in love and being loved by God is far more important than our attempts to be good. God’s love naturally compels us to be love.
Joseph Yoo is the author When the Saints Go Flying in. He is a West Coaster at heart contently living in Houston, Texas with his wife and son. He serves at Mosaic Church in Houston. Find more of his writing at josephyoo.com.
