Grace on Sale

Here they come,  the ‘Merica cries of Christian persecution. Mary’s Gourmet Diner hit the news this week for offering discounts of 15% for those who prayed prior to their meal.  Literally, a sale on grace.  Cheap grace. Must be awful to pay the same price for a chicken sandwich.  But now, ownership has made the decision to end the discount under the pressure of a lawsuit.  And here we go again…rather than living with grace, being kind, loving mercy, and walking humbly…the whining is going to only solidify even more why our young people want nothing to do with church.  A place where Jesus Saves—15%.      

Dietrich Bonheoffer who’s life witnessed the true cost of discipleship, and who knew persecution, shared: “The church is only the church when it exists for others.”  The problem with prayer on sale is the human dilemma that wants to participate advantages of empire where membership comes with privileges. Where the Church of Me shares that the good news is reduced to a consumer transaction.  But our faith teaches us the exact opposite—that we are at our best when we extend our generosity to the stranger and extend hospitality to our guests.  The economics of Jesus are ones where first is last and last is first.

When Jesus was saying a few things challenging the privileged exploiting their own power, he said something like “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites  who pray in public for a discount on a chicken sandwich, but instead of praying for your own benefit, try having the integrity of removing selfish agendas and you may find that the true reward is finding relationship.”   

(p.s.: If you want to know persecution, try asking thousands of children seeking mercy at our border, a Nigerian child sold into sex trade, a Palestinian seeking sanctuary with nowhere to go, or Yazidi, Christian, and religious minorities in Iraq.)