Cycle of Grace

A common approach to life seems to be the cycle from “work” to “significance” to “success” to (the hope for) “acceptance.”  Something like this:

The key is that, for so many of us, the cycle begins in the “work” quadrant.  We feel the intense need to achieve in life.  Our identity is, all too often, based on what we do.

Tell me about yourself … Who are you?

How many times do we answer in terms of our “occupation?”

So, what if this general “Cycle of Work” invades our spirituality?

We import the way of life we’ve learned into our approach to God.  Only now, a very destructive pattern begins to emerge.

Yes, in a life of faith, there may be things “do” (obedience), and that’s cool.  But for some of us, depending on our past (especially when we were new to faith) and depending on our relationship with significant authority figures in our life, if “achievement” is the only route to acceptance and appreciation, then a very unhealthy link gets forged between the first quadrant and the last.  Recognition and acknowledgment become the basis for feeling significant.

The tragic part is that sometimes we fail.

• Deadlines pass and the work doesn’t get done …
• Dissatisfaction with a job leaves us wandering …
• We miss an opportunity …
• Our children stray in harmful, hurtful ways …

But even when we succeed, there is a danger if we have established the link between work and acceptance in our lives.  When is it ever enough? How much do we have to do to be accepted?

And how do we maintain the cycle?  It’s pretty natural to see that to make it through the critical points in our life, emotional or spiritual “highs” become our (illegitimate source of) sustenance.

But, the good news is Jesus modeled a different way to be human – not based on this vicious cycle of spirituality, but based on a life-giving Cycle of Grace.  Take a look at how he changed everything!

The key to understanding the Cycle of Grace is realizing where it starts!  In the quadrant called, “Acceptance.”  And the cycle is reversed.

For Jesus, his earthly work began with a thunderous voice of approval and acceptance at his baptism (Matthew 3:17).  Before he had done anything!  Jesus was accepted by the Father.  Then, at his Transfiguration in Matthew 17:5, we get an example of Jesus being sustained by the re-affirmation of his identity and relationship with God.  Then, moving into the quadrant of “Significance,” we see that Jesus expressed a self-secure understanding of his vocation, or “calling” in John 13:3.

Finally, after beginning with the acceptance of God, being sustained by his relationship with God, and finding significance in his calling from God, Jesus does the work he came for.  During some final moments with his friends before his execution, Jesus expresses this in prayer (John 17:4), and then with his final breath on the cross, he proclaimed “it is finished.”  Work, achievement, “doing for God”?  Yes, but as a result of his acceptance and sense of significance, not as a basis for it.

Life as a follower of Jesus must begin in the quadrant called, “Acceptance.”  Work is no longer the starting point, it is the natural outflow of the life-giving Cycle of Grace.  When we accept the invitation to be adopted into God’s family, we are called “beloved,” holy and without blemish in God’s eyes!  From that beginning, we are invited into a daily relationship, spending time with the Father, hearing his voice sustaining us (not the illegitimate voices the world offers).  Then we will gain our sense of significance from the vocation he calls us to – being salt and light in the world, loving God with everything we have and loving others as ourselves.  And as a response to God’s grace, we will “work” – obedient to the tasks he calls us to.

May God rescue us from the vicious cycle of life and place us in the flow of his Cycle of Grace!

Related posts:

1. A New Way of Thinking About Spiritual Disciplines
2. The Boundaries of God’s Grace: Toward a Larger Vision of Truth
3. Who Am I? Why Am I Here?