"constantly..in need of grace" ?

What does it mean to be constantly in need of grace? I'm going to attempt to answer it...well from my point of view at least.

I never fail to learn something..or at least think further into something when I listen to the music of Derek Webb.

There are so many times when we (well, me at least) jumps on someone's band wagon. We say "i think this guy gets it..." Well, I think this guy really does.

If you haven't listened to it yet, you need to listen to Derek Webb's "The House Show." The album is really just a live version of "She Must and Shall Go Free," but "The House Show" contains commentary between certain songs.

If you know anything about me, you know that I'm big on living and dwelling in community. Funny...so is Derek Webb. OK, I'll admit it...Derek Webb has had an affect on me...

I'm not sure why I keep just typing two lines and going to a new paragraph, but it feels good so far...so here goes another one *enter*

Derek Webb, in short, is "the man." He talks about this great "righteousness" we prop up as an idol to God. He says that we've forgotten the truth of the gospel. He speaks of how we don't believe the message we preach. You know what? He's right, folks.

There is a reason that we worship our own morality. There is a reason that we're ransomed to this idea that we can live up to the standard set for us by Christ. It's because we're afraid to let the truth of the gospel, the victory found in the cross liberate us. We're afraid to surrender to the freedom we have in Christ. It's because we don't believe the message we're called to preach

Webb talks about how Martin Luther was pastoring a church during the reformation period. He speaks of Luther preaching the gospel on a weekly basis. He tells the story of Luther's congregation questioning his reasoning for preaching the gospel so frequently. Luther's response was that he would continue to preach the gospel until they looked like a people who were truly liberated by it. Until his dying day he did.

We've got to quit hiding the things we do that are bad and amplifying the things we do that are good. The church shouldn't serve to facilitate a competition with people yelling back and forth "We love Jesus, yes we do! We love Jesus, how about you?" Webb says that the best thing that could ever happen to him would be for his deepest, darkest secrets to be exposed on "large screens." It's true. We should be striving to reach a state where we are comfortably exposed in our sin.

So...back to the point. What does it mean to be "constantly in need of Grace?" The thing is, as humans, we are constantly sinning, right? Even as much as we don't want to admit it, we are.

Ephesians 2: 8-10:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works that no one may boast. For you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

Salvation isn't best described as the moment you walk down the isle of your church and ask Jesus into your heart. That is only the beginning of a continuous state of being. We are in a constant state of "salvation" because of our constant lifestyles of sin. Charles Spurgeon once said "If your sin is small than your Savior will be small, but if your sin is great than your Savior will be great." We serve a great savior, a God of scandalous grace. Let us never forget that.

God, I pray that in everything we do your name is glorified. I pray that we will strive to live in true unity and true community. I pray that I will be able to be comfortably exposed in my sin. I pray that I will be fully liberated by the truth of the gospel. I pray that you will give me the faith to believe the very message I preach. Amen.