The Problem With Organic, Free-Trade Grace
1 09 2006It helps orphans in Venezuela or something…
The Christ Center offers free coffee and Wi-Fi to anyone who wants it. No one will come inside for free coffee… Today I decided that if no one will come inside, I will take the free organic, free trade coffee to the people. So I set up a table, cups, awning, and even bought donuts.
Then I waited.
and no one came.
It’s not like I’m in an alleyway away from traffic. I’m on a busy street where tons of people park every day. I’m across from one of the biggest parking lots on campus. People walk by. It happens. There were probably 40 people who walked by in the hour and a half I was outside.
I gave away two (2) cups of coffee.
One of those was to a person who already knew about the Christ Center. She told me she liked the idea of giving it away on the street, then went away to her class. She is a nursing student, so
she must be busy.
The other person I gave one to was a friend of mine from when I was still a student. He asked about why I was doing this and gratefully
took a cup and a donut.
No one else did.
As I was reading Blue Like Jazz, the chapter about Grace, and came to a realization; People look at grace like they look at coffee. Even if it is free, even if it helps orphans, even if it is taken out of the scary building and given to them freely with sweet treats on the side, they don’t want it. BUT they will go and pay $4.37 for a Starbucks Latte in an hour anyways, even if something better was available for free all along.
People are so sceptical of “free” that they will overpay for something inferior. This is kind of how it is with God. People are so sceptical of His free grace that they will reject it for something lesser that requires more work. Mormanism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, even some of the people in my own church are so wary of God’s “free” grace that they have to create a price to pay for it. They will pay in works or worries way more than God wants, only to get something less than God offers.
The two people I actually gave coffee to are a great example too. One already knew that the coffee was good. She’d had it before. She was on the “inside.” She didn’t need to be told it was worth it, and that free is better.
The other I had a relationship with. I wasn’t some random person offering something for nothing. He took my coffee because it was from me, and he trusted that I wouldn’t be giving him something that was bad.
Figure out these metaphors for yourself. Leave a comment about it. Be a part of the discussion.
Coffee…. God…. Hmmmm….
So how much of that “free, organic, fair trade coffee” did you drink? Any spiritual implications there? Hmmm. Hording all the grace for yourself will keep you up at night (Luke 12:13-21).
No no. You were trying to give it away; that’s all that counts. Maybe if you had thrown the coffee on people, some would have landed on good soil? Dang. The metaphors just aren’t working.
Sheesh. I don’t see what the problem is anyway. I like free. I’m not so sure that it’s just the free that keeps us away though. It’s a risk, you see. Your free coffee might be good, and it might not, but I know a cup of tea at Traders is going to make me happy, even if it costs me $2.00. And once I fill up on coffee, even bad coffee, no more room for tea.
And this is a bit how grace works. Sure, it’s free. God chose me in Christ, and He did all the work. He lived a life of perfection, wholeness, and peace, and He died on the cross. He showed me how to live and He showed me God. He fulfilled the promise to Abraham and brought the Kingdom of God into the world. But I can’t have tea and coffee both. I can’t get it unless I give up my life. I might breathe life deeply for the first time, and I might not, but once I’m full of Jesus, there’s no room for anything else (I John 3:5-6). I’m just not likely to take the plunge until I run out of toonies.
Of course, your friend there knew you well enough to believe you had the good stuff. Might even have had $2.00 on him. Hmmm.
Is it really grace, or are we just pimping our ministry? My dad always told me that there is no such thing as a free meal, and maybe the coffee isn’t free either. I mean, I like to think my motives are pure, but steaks and coffee and houses to chill at have a goal of bringing people into our relationships – then we say you have to confess and repent and get dunked and go to church and stop cussing and… I think normal people may be more aware that Jesus is dangerous than we are…
Like the preacher said, “I don’t want things from you people; I want things for you!”
Is it free? Yeah. It has to be, or it’s not grace. I didn’t do anything to make Jesus the true King, or to help Him begin to set the world right. I didn’t help Him bring wholeness to everyone who believes. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not obligated to respond to what He did, if it’s true.