Grace A-N-D Truth

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
~ John 1:14

As Christians, we are called to model our lives after Jesus Christ. And the gospel teaches us that He was full of both grace and truth. That is a balance that, if we're honest, we struggle mightily to achieve.

I've known some who pride themselves on being 'full of truth.' They wield it like a sledge hammer. Hurt feelings and crushed spirits don't matter to them. Their concern is for "the truth." I've seen their preaching drive some away from the church, and away from the caring arms of the Savior. But their attitude seems to reflect the famous Jack Nicholson line in A Few Good Men: "You can't handle the truth!"

I've known others who's tilt toward grace is such that they're willing to throw out standards and doctrine and priniciples, all in the name of 'grace.' Afterall, they reason, doesn't God's grace extended to us save us? If grace was sufficient for the Apostle Paul, even in his affliction, shouldn't we be careful to cover everything and everyone in such grace?
But grace at the expense of everything else becomes what Bonhoffer called "cheap grace." It's empty and invalid because it lacks any measure of truth to support it.

'Grace and truth' is not an either-or proposition. As followers of Christ, we're called to be filled with both.