Last week a young, African-American, single mother randomly knocked on my door\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you believe in second chances?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Never wanting to miss an opportunity for meaningful dialogue and encouragement, I said:<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course. I believe in second, third, even sixty-fifth chances.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
She shared the toughness of her life thus far. She now wanted to work hard and change the trajectory of her and her daughter\u2019s future. How could we help?<\/i><\/p>\n
It made me think about how generous or stingy we are with those chances\u2026 how for whatever reason, we justify drawing the line somewhere, <\/i>believing we\u2019ve offered enough<\/i> chances already\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve gone too far,\u201d <\/i>we think\u2026 concluding that grace is no longer necessary nor even wise\u2026<\/p>\n And just like that, in all of our infinite, perceived wisdom, we put limits on grace.<\/p>\n While there certainly is a time for healthy, relational boundaries, I\u2019m not sure I can wrap my brain around the need for stern limitations on grace.<\/p>\n Grace is unmerited favor\u2026 meaning there is nothing we have done to deserve it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But often \u2014 especially in our increasingly fractious culture, we seems more generous with our \u201cungrace.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n Ungrace <\/b>equates to grace\u2019s absence; it is the declaration that because grace is<\/i> undeserved \u2014 as inherent in its definition \u2014 we should withhold it.<\/p>\n My fear, friends, is that we are quickly becoming more of a culture of ungrace. Because we can sense the undeserving-ness \u2014 often deeply \u2014 we justify the withholding of kindness. We justify a lack of forgiveness and respect. We justify a lack of forbearance with one another.<\/p>\n That\u2019s part of the beauty of Representative-elect Dan Crenshaw\u2019s interaction with Saturday Night Live\u2019s <\/i>Pete Davidson last week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Davidson publicly, cruelly insulted Crenshaw as a candidate. He mocked a man, maimed during his military service in Afghanistan. But instead of ranting and raving and ensuring Davidson \u201cgot what he deserved<\/strong>,\u201d Crenshaw offered Davidson what he did not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After appearing on SNL<\/i> alongside Davidson, joking together \u2014 after also then, Davidson\u2019s apology and Crenshaw\u2019s forgiveness \u2014 Crenshaw said the following about their exchange:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were hesitant at first\u2026 We weren\u2019t sure what the skit was going to look like\u2026 but in the end we decided to do it. And we decided to do it because what better platform than to sort of give a united message for the country, talk about forgiveness and talk about veterans\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n It felt good. It felt like the right thing to do. I would appreciate it if everybody would stop looking for reasons to be offended, and that\u2019s what this was all about.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Fascinating.<\/i><\/p>\n Friends, I understand that on different days, we each have cause to be offended. Dan Crenshaw certainly did. But our offense is impeding our offering of grace. Our offense is causing us to limit the number of extended chances. Our offense is breeding ungrace.<\/strong><\/p>\n I had a fantastic conversation with the young woman at my door last week. After authentic connecting, an encouraging sale, and some mutual thanks to the good Lord above, we both walked away in gratitude and humble joy.<\/p>\n May we always believe in those second, third, and even sixty-fifth chances.<\/p>\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week a young, African-American, single mother randomly knocked on my door\u2026 \u201cDo you believe in second chances?\u201d Never wanting to miss an opportunity for meaningful dialogue and encouragement, I said: \u201cOf course. I believe in second, third, even sixty-fifth chances.\u201d She shared the toughness of her life thus far. She now wanted to work … <\/p>\n