12. Practitioner's Podcast: The Grace Gap Illustration 

Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Practitioner's podcast, where we're replying Jesus style, disciple making to everyday life. This episode in all of our episodes are powered by Navigators, church Ministries, which focus on helping churches make disciples who can make disciples. For more information or to get connected, go to navigators church ministries.org.

Justin, why don't you tell everybody who this episode is? Perfect. Yeah, this episode is perfect for anyone who struggles with sin in their life, so, so everyone. . Pretty much everybody. Pretty much everybody. This is a tool that I'm really excited to share with you guys because I have used it for years and years in discipling relationships, and there's a point in which, for many growing disciples where they just get bogged down by.

And they start to struggle with it a lot. And this is a tool that when applied into those situations, into those, life stages or the stage of development for a disciple, it really frees people and it really helps them. And so that's what we're talking about today. It's called the Grace Gap Illustration.

Yeah, and I, I wanna talk for a minute, to everyone who's listening, just to remind them about this idea of tools, right? Tools are used in the disciple making relationship to be passable, right? You might remember the episode we did about tools, but we want to give everyone an opportunity to learn a tool so that they can give that tool away, and in the process, stay focused on the main, the only reason the tool.

Which is to help people follow Jesus, right? So just as a reminder, we don't follow tools. We follow Jesus. We give away tools. . Yeah. And I think what we're hoping is that as you, become familiar with this tool, that you'll see the value in it and you won't just see the value in it for your life, but you will take the time to make it part of your toolbox.

Right? Which takes some intentionality. It takes some practice in learning, well, how do I share this thing? And it takes some reps alone and it takes some reps with friends and family. Till you get it to a place where you're like, okay, yeah, I have moved that from my short-term memory to my long-term memory, and when I see a situation come up that this fits it, I can just pull it out and it will help me do the job that God has asked me to do in discipling others and helping people grow.

Okay, so, here's what we're doing. It's a little bit hard in a podcast format because it'd be a lot easier if I was with you or if we, if we had a video version of this, which we don't yet. yeah, cuz this tool is visual. It's visual, yeah. And so what I'm gonna ask you to do is if you can go get a piece of paper.

Blank piece of paper, and I'm gonna ask you to draw out what I'm de describing for you, and then you can see it, right? So there's a downloadable version. It's in the show notes if you can wait to look at it until after you've listened to at least this first part of the episode. Okay? So if, if you have ever felt like the more mature you get, the more sinful you are.

This tool's. . If you've ever felt like spiritual growth is more of an illusion than a reality that maybe other people are looking at you and saying, wow, you're really growing. I can see you're maturing, but inside, maybe you feel like a whitewash tomb, right? You feel like the outside is great, but the inside is just as dirty or dirtier than it ever was.

Okay, this is these. This is the situation in which I would pull this tool out. If I was discipling you and I would say, Hey, let's talk about this. I'd ask you to tell me about how you're feeling. I'd ask you to tell me about, you know, between now and. Five, six months ago, a year ago, what's changed as far as, you know, you and your relationship with God and, and this idea of sin?

And you would probably be telling me like, man, the more I feel like I'm trying, the more I feel like I'm just blowing it all over the place. And this is a place where I'll empathize and then I'll say, well, can I share an illustration with you and say, sure. Okay. So, what I want you to do, if you're drawing along, draw a, it's gonna be a graph, so you're gonna draw an a big L, right?

Then on the, on the left side, x, y do we call an X. Y, Tony. How's never great at math? Yeah. X y. The x y grid, x Y grid. Okay. But it's not gonna be four quadrants. We're just gonna look at, one quadrant. And so on the vertical axis, you're gonna write growth. Growth. And on the horizontal axis, you're gonna write time.

Okay. And so I would draw this. I'd say, Hey, this represents growth. This rep represents time, and now I'm gonna draw this straight line, and I'm gonna take it from where those two meet down at the bottom left. And I'm gonna draw it, at an angle that's like 45 degrees, 45 degree angle, straight and constant.

And I'm going to write on that line understanding of scripture. Or understanding of what God wants you to do. Okay. And then I'm going to draw a line under that. It's gonna start at the same place, but the line under that is going to slope upwards, but it's gonna be at maybe a 20, 25 degree angle, but it's also gonna have a lot of dips and ups and downs.

But it's still, overall, it's going to trend, upwards. And I'm gonna write the word obedience under that. And then I'm gonna stop there and I'm going to ask the person that I'm sharing this with, I'm gonna say, just make some observations for me. What do you observe? Tony, how about you? What would you observe or what, what have you heard people come back as you shared this with them?

What are some of the things that they have observed? I would say that the one line is fairly straight and narrow. The other line, it looks a little bit like my heart monitor. Yep. Yep. So there's a definite difference right between these two lines. Good. I would also say that, both lines are trending upwards, so they're both heading in the same direction.

It's, it's clear that the lines are moving that way. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

 and then finally, I would say that it looks that there's a gap between the. Okay, good. Yep. And so I would ask then, those are the very, very common observations that people have. Right? the other one they might say is that growth and understanding is more steady. Than growth and obedience or application.

Okay. and then they would mention this gap in between, and then I would ask them, well make some observations about that gap. And they'd say, well, it's, it's getting bigger as time goes on. I'd say, yeah, it's getting bigger. anything else that you notice? no, they normally don't. And so I'd say, well, when is it the smallest?

When is that gap the smallest? So it's all the way down there to the bottom left. And I would say, do you know what that point is? I'd say no. I'd say, well, the growth and time where that comes together for a disciple or a believer is the point of conversion. And so the gap between our obedience to Jesus and what he wants us to do and our understanding of what he wants us to do is the smallest.

When we first come to know him, but since we grow much more rapidly and easily in what we understand, than we do and how we're obeying it, here are the implications of that. I'll say we, we will feel less holy over time because the gap between understanding and obedience is getting bigger. And even though we're feeling like we're less holy or less obedient, in actuality we are growing in holiness.

We're growing in obedience, right? Because that obedience line is sloping upwards. Even though it's up and down, it's bumpy, it's sloping upwards. And so what happens, Anne, and what you're experiencing, the person I'm sharing this with, what you are experiencing is a normal, natural part of spiritual growth.

And that normal, natural part is this, that as we grow in maturity, we also have to deal with a growing sense of our sinfulness and an appreciation of what Christ has done for us. Because what we need to write in that gap now is two words. It's the grace. , and this is what we call the Grace. That's why the episode's titled the Grace Gap Illustration, right?

So it is this gap that Jesus covers for us, God covers for us with His grace, okay? And so I want to encourage them that, hey, I understand it gets hard. I understand that as you, grow in maturity and especially in kind of a, when you are an adolescent or an older childhood, stage of growth as a disciple, you really start to feel this and it bothers you and you can't, you can't make sense of it.

But then as this, as they get, some of this is normal, as they understand it's normal, then it gets easier. Right? And then I share with them a few verses about Paul's journey. Now, I've shared this with a lot of people. There are some people that really think this is a great fit for this illustration. Then there's others that are like, oh, okay, well I'm not totally sure that's what Paul was talking about, and I'll be, I don't know if it is or isn't, but what we know, what I'm about to share with you, these three verse.

 were written by Paul and they were written, the first one I shared, I'm gonna share with you is the earliest one that he wrote, and the last one's, the last one that he wrote in terms of his life. And so I believe that it is, it's not a hundred percent certain, but I believe that it's probable that Paul experienced this gap as well, and this is what he did with it.

Okay. So Tony, I'm gonna read the first, the first one. If you could read the last two for us. So the first one's, first Corinthians 15. And it says again, Paul's writing for, I'm the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God, but by the grace of God, I am what I am.

And his grace to me was not without effect. No. I worked harder than all of them yet, not I, but the grace of God that was with me. So the part I wants to hang onto of this verse, Paul says, he is the least of the a.

Okay, the second one, Ephesians three, eight. Whenever you're ready. I'm ready. The Ephesians three eight says this . I thought I was ready and then I just lost my place in my Bible. , where, where Please hold. Ephesians three eight says this, although I am. Then the least of all the Lord's people, this grace has given to me to preach to the Gentiles, to the boundless riches of Christ.

And again, we're, we're gonna dial in on this idea that he's saying, although I am the Le, I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, his grace was given me. So that's great. And then the third one, first Timothy one 15 through 16. Which is one of my favorite verses here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me the worst of sinners Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Yeah, I mean in, in first Timothy.

 one 15 is one of my favorite. It's just a trustworthy saying. I'm just gonna say it again. That deserves full acceptance. I, I love Paul this, his disposition here, right? Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. That's such the powerful words from Paul as always.

Absolutely. Yeah. So we hear Paul in these three passages. He moves in his life as he gets older. He starts with, I'm the least of the apostles. He then moves to less than the least of all God's people, so those who believe and follow Jesus and then. Widens out even more and says, I am the worst of sinners.

Not just of God's people, but of sinners. So his awareness, I would argue, his awareness of his sin and how far short he falls between what God desires of him and what he actually is grows through the course of time. Okay. but again, I want to emphasize and then, let's just talk about it, Tony, about.

What you see in this, what you like or don't like about this illustration. but what what helps me and what I think, we need to remember is that this illustration does not an excuse for sin. And what it actually is saying is that even though we feel like. Feel like we are sending more. The reality is we are not, because that obedience line is continuing to grow, it's continuing to move upwards even though there's some up and down.

And so I just want us to get that part. Okay. So if you have drawn it out now, now is a great time to hit pause, download it, look at what we have, what I've tried to describe. It's like one of those, you know, amazing race sort of challenges or whatever. Here's, here's where I want us to land. Tools like this are helpful if you find them helpful.

 when I teach tools, I tell the people I teach, Hey, it's okay if you don't like this one. It's okay if you, like parts of it, not other parts if you don't like it. either fix it or make a better one. And I think that's where we're going to get to the best tools that we can continue to use, for discipling situations.

Okay. Tony, so you, learned this from me initially. What, what's been your thought about it? Have you used it? How, how has it impacted you or how do you process it today? Yeah, I, so I, I like the dialogue around sin because I think that most Christians, as they develop in there. Have a very shallow sense of their seminarian word here.

Harm, harm, neurology, which is the study of sin, but it's really just sin theology, right? A belief system around sin. And so, The, the thing that I appreciate about the tool the most is that it gives us a jumping off point as we dialogue about sin, because I've preached in enough churches, and I've asked the question, I'm sure you've been in a church where a pastors ask the question, has any, does everyone hear sin?

Everyone raises their hand. , right? I've never been in a church where everyone didn't fully identify as a sinner, right? Yet, when we go to actually talk about the individual sin, to hold people accountable to a life of obedience, nobody wants to talk about that, right? Oh, I'm a sinner, but don't talk about my struggle with.

Glu or my struggle with lust or my struggle with insert number of sins here. And so, so when I'm discipling someone, I really want them to understand that the grace that we get from God is not a cheap grace. , right? It's a fullness of grace, and it's a grace that grows with us and changes us, and it transforms us.

And so this is, that's what I like about the tool. Now I've adapted it a little bit, and I would draw a straight line instead of a graph, and I would say that this straight line represents the fullness of life with Christ. It's an obedient life to Christ. If you remember the wheel right, it's where the rubber meets the road when.

Operating in the fullness of life with Christ. We get to live into the promises that Jesus gave us about his yolk being easy and the burden is light. We get to live into the, the spiritual gifts, right? And then every time we sin, we separate ourselves from that line, right? And so in this particular case, it's the disobedience, right?

And so I would draw an offshoot of that. and I would say this is sin. And then the grace gap, I would say in that gap is the consequences of sin, and it's God's grace that gives us the opportunity to go back to the fullness of life with Christ. So because of God's grace, because of the promises of God, we don't have to live in the consequences of sin, nor are we defined by sin.

Instead, we are promised new life as a new creation in Christ. I love that. So you just kind of use it as a, you start with that, kind of an abiding, you didn't use that word, but that in my mind is what it was like webi. Yeah, that's, that's exactly what it is. It's an abiding. . Yeah. And so, man, I really like that.

I think that is a great illustration too, of what we can do with an illustration that, that we kind of like, but for us as, as a disciple maker, what God's put on our heart in us, we can adapt things that fit us a little better and fit the context that we wanna speak into with the disciples. Because whether it's the version that we talked about, mostly episode or that version, it's getting into that same conversation.

and it's helping the ones that we are walking with to see the importance of obedience and also to see the, the way that God gives grace to us even when we aren't obedient. Right? And that's what, when we aren't obed what the grace is for. And so I love how you're doing that. And one of the things I appreciate about both things as a disciple maker is that this gives me the opportunity to talk.

bad things. , you know, sin. Yeah, sin is not a good thing. It's a bad thing. And so sometimes we want to kind of avoid the consequence, avoid the conversation around the consequences of sin, but, but there are always, always, always a consequence for sin, right? If we look at. The story of Adam and Eve, right?

The Lord has to kick them out of the garden. Now he closed them first, right? That's an example of the grace gap. So he close Adam and Eve, and then the consequences is still there. They have to leave the garden and they have to till the ground and all the other consequences. But first he gives them grace and, and the rest of scripture is really the Lord.

Just trying to live into that grace as he pursues that relationship with this, you know, sinful human being. , a k a me and you. Right. Yeah. And that's what's so powerful, right? When, when we think about what God has done and the grace that he's given us, he doesn't shield us from all the, the impact of sin, right?

But what he does shield us from is that sin is no longer going to separate us from him, right? That when we are in Christ, we don't have to be perfect in order to approach him. We don't have to be perfect to have a relationship with him. The gap between our efforts and his standard is covered by the grace that he's given us in Christ and through the cross.

And so that is when I was the young disciple and this was, shared with me for the first time. It really freed me. It gave me some freedom to be able to process, okay, it's gonna take some time for me to separate from sin sometimes, but even when I'm in that struggle, . And as I'm struggling with the sin, as I'm working towards obedience and becoming more and more obedient and abiding more and more deeply, God isn't walking away from me.

He's not turning away. He's not looking at me disgusted. He is still moving towards me with grace and excited that I am his son and a part of his kingdom. And as I've shared this with others, There have been many who have been in that spot, and I find it to be a really helpful tool when, when the person that you're discipling or somebody else that you know and care about are in that split, that place or space, this really helps to bring freedom for them.

Friends, we're so thankful for our time together today. We're thankful for the way that we get to do this life together and learn about God's grace. The takeaway today, God's grace is big enough to cover the gap between what you know and what you should actually do. God's grace is big enough to cover the gap between what you know and what you should actually do The action step for today.

Spend time thinking about the progress you've made in obedience over the past year. Then praise God for his grace. Right. So look, get into the praise. I love it. That's what we're here for. Celebrate the joy of the Lord. Friends, we're thankful for each and every one of you. Do us a favor. Hit that subscribe button wherever list of podcasts.

Leave a rating or review on iTunes or Spotify, and the highest compliment you can give us. Share this episode with a friend. Go make disciples who make disciples. We'll see you guys real soon.