Easier to Preach Sin Than Grace
Truth to tell, exposing sin is easier than applying grace; for, alas, we are more intimate with the former than we sometimes are with the latter. Therein lies our weakness.”
From Sinclair Ferguson’s feature article, A Preacher’s Decalogue Part II, on Reformation 21.
The asst pastor at NSF said something similar to that like a month or two ago. That is, it’s much easier to observe/analyze what’s wrong with the people around us, especially at church. Also, we could probably more correctly pick out what is wrong with the person next to us than that person himself or herself could.
I thought about it for a while, basically because I don’t like taking in blanket statements like that all at once. To be critical is one thing but, saying that we would be right in our scrutiny (perception doesn’t always equal the truth) is taking it a step further…anyway…but this is a moot point because back to what you said, it’s about applying grace.
Amen, Chris. We’re often right about the other person, but the reality is that (much like our own sinfulness) do not know the half of it. But we can rejoice in the fact that all of us are being made new in Jesus Christ…that’s where the grace comes in.