Bishop Tutu began his answer with this: “First, I do not know what kind of person I might have turned out to be had I been subjected to the same conditions as the racists. So I have learned to say thankfully, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.'”
I have a friend who likes to summarize Christian life and mission this way: “Go out into the world awake and alert to see what it is that God is up to, and then ask, how can I participate? How can I help in whatever it is that God is already doing?”
Start with the image of the “face of Jesus Christ.” Jesus’ face is the face of profound love, the image of God. Jesus looks and brings understanding, forgiveness, healing, and hope.
Our theology would improve if we thought more of the church being given to the Spirit than of the Spirit being given to the church.
The nations honor this ruler because of his generosity and justice, not just his military prowess. These foreign lands are praying for him and blessing him, and even Arabia is generously cooperating with his agenda. Why? Because of his goodness and commitment to the poor.
My experience of the grace and love of God has been so wonderful, that it is virtually unimaginable to me that anyone can escape that immeasurable love forever. I’ve become convinced that God’s victory will be total.
God’s economy is generous toward the needy. All receive their daily bread; debts are forgiven.
The haunting part about it for me was the image of Korah, Dathan and Abiram standing at the entrance of their tents along with “their wives, their children, and their little ones.” Moses prays for God to judge between them, and the earth opens up and swallows them all alive. Children and all.
So now you can relax. You don’t have to make all “A’s.”. Instead, you can relax and learn. Learn and grow for the sake of the learning and growing rather than for the grade
If God does something great like that with unfaithfulness, there is no limit to what God can do, especially with any form of faithfulness.