When asked what is unique about Christianity as compared to
other world religions, C.S. Lewis answered without hesitation, “It is grace.”
Grace is what I need so desperately and what you need as well. It is the only
thing that can give each of us that offend God a chance at peace with Him. It
is a gift from God and cannot be earned. We are saved by grace and depend on
grace for every breath we take.
Dirty God is a
book about grace.
Johnnie Moore, vice president of Liberty University, divides
his book into two parts: Getting Grace and Giving Grace.
In part one, Moore writes about the
God who didn’t mind getting his hands dirty to extend his love to people in
need. Jesus entered without reservation into leper colonies and into the homes
of social rejects. His entire life and ministry was characterized by grace.
Through impactful stories and anecdotes, Moore calls for believers, who are the
recipients of God’s grace, to be happy and free in who they are in Christ. God
accepts and loves imperfect people. He has used ragtag people in the past for
his purposes and continues to pour out favor on the outcasts to this day. Jesus
is in the business of being a friend to the friendless. In the last chapter of the first section, “How
to Miss the Grace of God,” Moore warns of the dangers of faking, pretending to
have a relationship with God. He writes that “Looking good isn’t the same as
being good. Faking it never works.” In faking, we miss grace because grace is
in opposition of looking good and living to impress others.Part two of Dirty God is a call for grace in action. “Grace is radical, and it’s meant to be lived in radical ways.” Moore writes:
The kind of grace the world needs, and the kind of grace Jesus gives,
is the kind of grace that will cost us something. It’s the tough grace that
causes us to chance losing a friend because we finally tell her what she needs
to hear. It’s the kind of grace that causes you to put yourself in great
personal danger to stand up for the disenfranchised or enslaved. It’s the kind
of grace that might make people think you’re weak, when you’re actually strong
– the kind of grace that will be misunderstood in a world that looks out for
number one…grace intervenes…grace stands up for truth when people don’t want to
hear it and grace stands in the gap for those who haven’t a voice. Grace takes
the hit. Grace decides to charge injustice from the front lines. Grace
sometimes says what no one wants to hear and then keeps saying it until
everyone has heard it.
Dirty God is a book that will help
you understand the grace of a loving God who was willing to sacrifice His son
to save us. Moore will challenge and inspire you to be a giver of grace to this
grace-starved planet. It is time to get
our hands and feet dirty in the trenches with Jesus as we live out grace.
(I received this book in exchange for an honest review from
Booksneeze.com )
