“Sloppy grace”.

The connotation I got when I was younger was that it was the type of grace that was soft on sin and soft on judgment. It was preached by the X denomination that were not ours. And this type of grace was damning grace rather than saving grace. It was the type of grace that are leading people to hell rather than getting them ready for heaven.

Now I’m realizing, there’s no other type of grace but a sloppy and soft one—not on sin but on the sinner.

God waited. God was patient. God was forbearing, long suffering and resistant to wrath. (And He still is.) He didn’t come to condemn. He came to save. He didn’t come to judge. He came to be judged. He didn’t come to cripple. He came to make us whole.

It’s sloppy because people have the characteristics that should get them condemned and shamed, but in God’s perfection He’s able to see past that and find them redeemable. I can’t see it, but somehow He can and does. (I mean, He did and does it for me.)

Last night in our men’s zoom group, Manny, our Community Ministry leader, asked one of the brothers what’s the difference between his Catholic upbringing and what he’s experiencing now.

The brother who is a quiet dude but loved and respected by all shared that when he was younger he had so many things to have to learn and go through in order to feel like he was getting close to God. The priests, the altars, the ceremonies, the creeds, the memorized prayers, the sacraments and all of it. He said there was so much show and tell.

But when he came to understand that one moment of acceptance brought him right into a relationship with God, that’s when it changed for him.

No fanfare. No go between. In that minute he accepted Jesus into his heart, all the religious hurdles were obsolete. He came to know God in relationship without any of it.

It was so beautiful. The simplicity of what he shared floored Manny and I.

The brother got it. It’s grace, all of it!

And before we non-Catholics should say anything, Manny pointed out that we, too, raised in non-Catholic Churches and households were also caught up in the hurdling. We had to have our point systems in order. We had to “look” and “talk” and “walk” a certain way or else God would reject us.

I know. I know. Some people align God with how they view others: “they have to come correct or they can’t be my friends.” But that’s not God’s grace.

“You worm, Jacob … Abraham, my friend”

“Friend, are you coming to me with a kiss” - Jesus to Judas

“He’s a friend of sinners and drunks!” - the Pharisees about Jesus.

God is a friend before we were ever friendly. He was gracious before we even knew we needed grace.

Paul writes: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for the unrighteous.”