Is there a culture of grace in your church?

Grace is at the heart of the gospel, and it should be an easily recognized mark of each true church. A church is produced by the grace of God through the person and work of the Lord Jesus. As New England pastor Jared Wilson says below, our church culture should be a "culture of grace." We all should manifest the truth that while we are saints, we are also still sinners -- humble, servant-hearted sinners in need of grace and the gospel. That grace in our lives -- and in our church culture -- should supersede differences with each other, and newcomers, over secondary issues.

In his March 13 blog post for The Gospel Coalition, Wilson writes:

I remind myself and my church often that a message of grace may attract people, but a culture of grace will keep them. They want to know — we want to know, the Lord wants to know — that what is being preached has sunk down through the hardness of our skulls and entered the bloodstream. That we are not puffed up with our spiritual knowledge but humbled by it and animated by it. Have we taken the message of the grace of God in Jesus Christ and taken it to heart?

And when they catch glimpses, the surprise is telling. Is it too good to be true? As more people testify to the kindness of God in their lives, drop the pretense of righteousness by moral turpitude, as sins are confessed and greeted with love, as pastors and laymen alike humble themselves and serve and exemplify with their hands and eyes what they preach with their mouths, the aroma of freedom wafts through the place. Messy people own their stuff. “They can do that here?” Sinners repent into the safety of the gospel. “They can do that here?” People have the freedom to question leaders, disagree with the pastor, hold opposing views with each other without distrust or rancor. “They can do that here?”

May it be so in the culture of Covenant Community Church and every other local body of believers.

You may read his entire post here.