In Paul Tripp’s book A Dangerous Calling, he warns pastors and church leaders of the danger of forgetting their need for the grace of God. This is a much needed word!! He writes…
No one gives grace better than a person who is deeply persuaded that he needs it himself and is being given it in Christ. This tenderness causes me to be gracious, gentle, patient, understanding, and hopeful in the face of the sin of others, while never compromising God’s holy call.
It protects me from deadly assessments like, “I can’t believe you would do such a thing,” or, “I would never have thought of…,” that are me telling me that I am essentially different from the people to whom I minister.
It’s hard to bring the gospel to people I am looking down my nose at or neither like nor respect. In the face of the sin of others, awe-inspirred tenderness frees me from being an agent of condemnation or from asking the law to do what only grace can accomplish and motivates me to be a tool of that grace.
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