Real World Grace & Truth

by Christina Bledsoe

Grace and truth seem like simple concepts, so writing about them should be simple, right? As I read Scriptures and articles on the topic, it is clear that Jesus practiced truth and grace in the context of relationships (Jesus and the woman at the well, Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, Jesus teaching His disciples how to live more like Him each day). Truly, you cannot practice grace and truth without relationships.  

Each of us has dozens of relationships that make up our lives: family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc. Each of these relationships provide opportunities to live out the grace and truth of Jesus in separate ways. Since 2015, my husband and I have been part of a life group. This life group consisted of people who participated together in a mission trip. I love this group of people and found “doing life” with them fulfilling. The entire group attended the same church and shared similar beliefs, convictions, and political parties. There was no conflict, no dissension and true unity among the group. This group provided countless opportunities to gain experience about the grace and truth of Jesus, but little opportunity to put grace and truth into practice.  

Fast forward to 2019 when my husband and I were asked to participate in Rooted at our church. Rooted is “an 11-week discipleship journey designed to launch you into a life group.” We responded that we were already in a life group but were encouraged to participate anyway. Since Rooted fell on a different night of the week than our bi-weekly group, we accepted the invitation. 

The Rooted curriculum provided the opportunity to get to know other group members on an extremely personal level while digging deeper into Scripture and learning how God created us to be in community with one another. After the program was complete, our group had the choice to remain together and form a life group, or part ways as friends. Of the thirteen original people, ten chose to form a life group and my husband accepted the role as leader. 

Over the past six years, our group has met regularly in one another’s homes and during COVID we met outside the church, in parking lots and outside ice cream shops. We have participated in family style dinners, hibachi, glass blowing, a chili-cook off and multiple service projects. We have celebrated weddings, births, college moves and new jobs, prayed with one another during medical crises and grieved the loss of parents, jobs and dreams. We have truly done life together.  

But, before you assume our life group is all rainbows and unicorns, let me remind you this blog is about truth & grace. Grace is not a concept that comes naturally to me. My humanity means I often get it wrong, and I am more likely to spew truth when I think someone has it coming to them.  

Remember how our first life group consisted of like-minded people? Our new group was more diverse: different life experiences, different political parties, different views on topics the church finds controversial. As our church sermon series tackled difficult topics like abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, women’s roles in marriage and the church, we began to feel the churn of disagreement.  

So, what do you do when you find yourself face to face with people you dearly love but hold radically different views? You get the opportunity to practice grace and truth. 

I am so proud of the way our group has matured in faith, held difficult conversations, listened to one another’s stories, and practiced empathy, kindness, love, and grace. I would be lying if I said it was easy. Just last week, someone said “should we address the elephant in the room?” about a recent sermon addressing a social issue. Sometimes there is awkward silence and other times I find myself simply listening because I truly want to hear the heart of my friends. Despite our vast differences, each of us love Jesus and we love one another. We choose to do life with one another and that choice is not in question. In addition, I am proud of the way my husband has led with biblical truth, not shying away from the hard topics but allowing our group to “chew on” Scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us.  

In my attempt to look and act more like Jesus, in grace and truth, I rely on Ephesians 4:14 (NLT).  

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ.