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Review by Bruce Nygren
A prostitute's comment prompted Philip Yancey's pilgrimage to define grace. When one of his friends, who works with the down-and-out in Chicago, asked why this woman in trouble did not seek help from a church, she retorted: "Church! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They'd just make me feel worse."
This theme -- In a world so hungry for love without catches, why is grace in such short supply? -- is the haunting melody that plays throughout this crafted, insightful book.
"What's So Amazing About Grace?" is another of Yancey's penetrating looks at faith. Just as he stroked an illuminating sketch in "The Jesus I Never Knew," here he presents a vivid picture of grace: a subject that too often vanishes in a fog of cliches.
Telling stories to make his points, Yancey carefully puts flesh on the theological bones of one of Christianity's loftiest truths. His curiosity about grace no doubt sprouted in a childhood lived in the often legalistic, "Southern fundamentalist culture."
Writing transparently ("I grew up a racist"), Yancey ducks none of the tough questions about grace: If all our sins are forgiven, do we really need to be uptight about walking the straight and narrow? Why is it that in church, where grace should flow like a river, it's often hard to find more than a raindrop? Is it possible for entire races and nations to experience grace? Why are Christians often so "ungraceful" in dealing with each other?
Yancey tells of the response to an article he wrote on President Bill Clinton for the magazine "Christianity Today." Given the rare opportunity to interview Clinton one on one, Yancey did his homework then wrote what he thought was a balanced account of the President and his faith. "I was totally unprepared for the firestorm of reaction," Yancey reports. "I wonder if my mailman will ever recover from the strain of lugging bags of angry letters to my mailbox. The vicious tone of personal attack caught me off guard. As I read through stacks of vituperative letters I got a strong sense for why the world does not automatically associate the word 'grace' with evangelical Christians."
Yancey acknowledges that a grace deficit exists outside the church too. "The world runs by ungrace. Everything depends on what I do," he writes. But that makes the flow of grace among Christians all the more strategic.
Using his creativity to pay homage to what may be the world's favorite hymn -- John Newton's "Amazing Grace" -- Yancey tells how the rowdy masses at a rock concert in England were stilled by the simple tune and words of this song. Yancey believes this anthem of God's sweeping love calmed the wired multitude because "The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends, the world falls silent before it."
In his quest to reveal the depths of grace, Yancey probes issues that will again swell his postman's bag -- for example, why are so many Christians who are silent on subjects like divorce or greed eager to howl about the subjects of abortion or homosexuality?
Yancey argues convincingly that the more we acknowledge our need for grace and repent, the more we will be able to embrace grace -- the free gift that always comes "free of charge, no strings attached, on the house."
Bruce Nygren is an author and editor in Monument, Colorado.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.
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