Why Are Some Grace Advocates Total Jerks?

This is something that has been bugging me for a little while.

I remember posting something on Facebook from a ministry that is pretty well-known in some circles and with  a decent-sized social media platform. A friend private messaged me rather alarmed that I had re-shared this ministry’s post, or frankly that I had anything to do with the other ministry.

He explained to me that he had posted — rather politely he claims — a differing point of view on something and it escalated rather quickly into name calling and that the page’s administrator cussed him out.

This was the result of an online an argument about grace, if you can believe me!

Oh, and by the way the photo above is a free stock photo I got on compfight.com, and not any person in real life I’m referring to or may actually know, so relax.

I was embarrassed to hear that, and I know it’s not true of all grace advocates. But the reason this kind of thing alarms me is because whenever some of my friends on the other end of the theological spectrum dismiss what they derogatorily call “hyper grace” (as if God’s grace is a bad thing or something), one of their best pieces of ammunition is the total lack of grace some of its proponents behave in.

I hear all the time,

“Hyper grace preachers are teaching grace as a license to sin.”

“Gracers live licentious lifestyles, and love an ear tickling Gospel.”

And so on.

As someone who came up hard out of what I’ll nick name hyper-legalism, I came to truly find a liberation and freedom in a profound understanding of God’s grace and His love. Then, quite often I’d cringe and wince when I see some of the things people who consider themselves proponents of the grace message attack those who aren’t.

Or cuss others out.

Or post stuff on social media that confuses me as to whether they’re truly saved.

And it just adds to the fuel of those who are already looking for excuses to dismiss our claims that God is in a good mood.

I read an article by a well-known columnist insisting that his claims against the grace camp come from the scores of people who’ve written him talking about the less-than-Christlike behavior and attitudes of those who claim to have found grace.

Like a Facebook status I saw posted today says,

“As one fully in the Grace camp I must say, the Grace movement is losing its way, and the way is love.” (Thanks Kriston Couchey!)

What do you think?

Is a licentious and judgmental attitude towards those who don’t have the same “revelation” really becoming of grace preachers?

Or is it just evidence that this message is empty?

Leave your thoughts below.