Aug 1
Grace as Violence
“Damn and blast you! Go on can’t you? Get it over. Do what you like,” bellowed the Ghost: but ended, whimpering, “God help me. God help me.”
— C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
Grace is certainly amazing, as the famous hymn declares. And yet, grace is also an act of violence.
In language borrowed from philosopher Charles Taylor, we have all located our meaning, identity, and self-worth in something immanent (not transcendent). These immanent locations include power, sex, intelligence, athleticism, money, travel, self accomplishment, religion… the list goes on.
When we locate our identity, we are implicitly believing that this thing can give us meaning. “If I can only satisfy my need for power, sex, intelligence, etc. I will be happy/whole/full,” we say to inner selves. The problem is that nothing immanent can make us whole. We know this from anecdotes from the rich, famous, and powerful. A classic example comes from Tom Brady.
We know these immanent things cannot sustain the weight of our identities, yet our hearts are held captive by them. The feeling of winning that last business deal, sexual conquest, or intellectual battle is so intoxicating. But, the glory quickly fades and we find ourselves in need of another dose. If only there were a transcendent, unchanging, sustaining place in which to locate our meaning.
In the face of this crises of meaning, the grace of Jesus demonstrated on the cross is absolute violence. In the resurrected Jesus we find an authentic, transcendent place to find meaning. As Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life…” (John 14:6). But, in order to accept this message, we must first give up the immanent. We must confess ourselves fools to have ever believed that something created (immanent) could have sustained us. We must forsake the thing that gave us any shred of meaning. In other words, we must declare, “I was wrong, I was foolish, and I am in desperate need of grace.”
This, my friends, is pure violence to the soul.
