My Favorite Quotes - Entry #4

“There but for the grace of God go I”

John Bradford ~1550

          According to tradition, this phrase (or something like it) was first spoken by John Bradford (circa 1510–1555) when he was watching criminals being led to the scaffold.  John Bradford was an English preacher who was martyred in 1555.  It’s not clear that he really said these words, but that doesn’t really matter to me.  The point being made is that God’s providence puts us in the situations we are in.  Or, to put it another way, we all have the capability to really mess up our own lives, and we shouldn’t feel so superior to anyone else.  We could be in their situation.

          I try to live with this kind of thinking in mind.  Specifically, when I hear about someone who did something really awful, or made a really bad mistake, I try not to think with the judgmental attitude that “well, I would never do anything like that.”  I think we all have our struggles, and none of us is perfect.  I struggle with some things that others don’t, and they struggle with things that I don’t.  That doesn’t make either one of us better than the other – we are all equal.

          Personally, I think you will be a better, kinder, more understanding person if you understand the depth of the meaning of the Bradford quote.  Too many people in this world are harsh toward other people.  They are too judgmental.  The world can benefit from a little more graciousness.  

I’m not saying that we should excuse the wrongs of others.  And we certainly shouldn’t excuse our own wrongs.  But we are all in the same boat:  guilty and helpless.  To be helpless is to be helpless.  Does it really matter whether some are more helpless than others?  I don’t believe it does.  

          Christians are sometimes the most judgmental people around.  I think that is wrong and tragic and sickening.  Of all people, Christians should be the most compassionate and kind.  Why isn’t that always the case?  I don’t know, but I wish it weren’t so.

          This does not mean that we should relax our moral standards to accommodate our failures.  This does not mean that we should reward everyone equally or that we should stop punishing those who make bad moral decisions.  Evil people should be punished for the evil they do – but that includes those of us who just haven’t been found out yet!  The problem is, when we recognize our general human tendency to fail, particularly in moral situations, it often results in a bit of compassion on our part.  But it’s kind of a false compassion:  we want to forgive others because we know that we do, or might do, the same wrong thing and we don’t want to be harshly punished for it.  Eventually, as we follow that path in its downward spiral, we start pushing the boundaries of what is morally acceptable because, deep down, we want to feel acceptable when we stray a bit.  Although it’s nice to be forgiven, it’s even better to be told that what you thought was wrong is actually ok.  Eventually, if nothing is wrong, then we can all feel good about ourselves.  That’s a tragic end, in my opinion.  But that’s a topic for another conversation.

          Jesus is reported as saying “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” as a crowd gathered around a woman caught in adultery.  In Jesus’ day, no one cast a stone – they all walked away.  Today I feel that there would be those who would still pick up a stone and start throwing with all the anger they could muster.  But there would also be those who would look Jesus in the eye and say “how dare you call her a sinner.”  I don’t want to be part of either group.  I don’t feel I’m perfect enough to put others down, but I also don’t feel I’m smart enough to redefine what is right and wrong.

          I think we all have moral blind spots and need help.  But when the morally-blind lead the morally-blind, we are all in trouble.  And, in my personal sampling of the human race, none (0%) have been found to have 20/20 moral vision.  Therefore, in my opinion, our only hope is to gain help from outside the human race.

          Well, I’m sure this quote will spark a few more discussions down the road.  But, for now, consider what it really means:  “there but for the grace of God go I.”