VISIBLE GRACE:
Seeing the Church the Way Jesus Does
By Caleb Batchelor
10Publishing. 48 pages. £3.99
ISBN 978 1 915 705 471
It is so easy to slip into self-righteous judgmentalism, especially when thinking about our own or other churches.
Just as individual Christians are recipients of God’s grace, so is the church as a collective, which is obvious when you think about it – but perhaps we don’t.
Caleb Batchelor brings out some implications. When we think about our own church, we can rejoice that the gospel applies to all her members, rather than focus on the negative. As for other gospel churches, yes, we may disagree with them on minor points, but far better to be encouraged by how they reflect Jesus.
There is a helpful chapter on how to disagree in a godly way, and another on how to be an encouragement in a local church. Sin must be confronted, but with grace. One quote I particularly liked: ‘Idealised visions of the church destroy Christian community because they extract mercy from the bloodstream of Jesus’ body and replace it with morality’. Christian: love your brothers and sisters in the church.
