Grace.

I was reading of an SBC pastor who said he "erred on the side of grace" and kept quiet about babies being molested by a church deacon. It makes me so frustrated, a beautiful spiritual language being used in defense of simply not caring about one of the greatest gifts we have: children. That response, that right there, that's what makes religion anathema to abuse survivors.

Doesn't this guy have any idea what grace is? Isn't he a pastor? Hasn't he studied the great minds AND the great hearts that the human race has put out?

It's the line and metaphor between the crucified God and the resurrected God. They are both God, you can no more separate both aspects than you can separate a knotted rope and still call it a knot. To get us to grace, biblically, God died. There's no getting past that. Grace is not cheap, and the pastor was not the one paying, so it was not his grace to give.

I don't think you can borrow this type of grace from a child, or ask for it. It can only be stolen, and when it is stolen, it is no longer grace.

That pastor, he is a thief.