No Trade Off | Crossroads Daily

Hey, I'm Caleb. I'm Dani. I'm Miko. I'm Jamie. And we're talking about John chapter one today. So we've been jumping all over the Bible. We're John, there's Exodus, now we're back in John. And one of the things that John does in this first chapter, he describes Jesus multiple times as full of grace and truth. So that's one of those kind of Christianese things, like I want to not live in a Christianese land. So who wants to define what that means? Grace and truth. What are those? Are those things opposites? What are we talking about? I don't think they're opposites. I think it's a wholeness. I don't look at it as balance. I look at it as a wholeness. So you have truth where you're willing to share with someone in your life the truth as it relates to what the Bible says. Accountability, that kind of thing. It could be truth around good things. It could be truth around maybe not so great things, but doing it in love, which is where the grace comes into play. And so, yeah, I think you have to have the fullness of it, the whole picture. Yeah, that's great. I've heard the, what is the phrase? It's grace without truth is meaningless. Truth without grace is mean. Yeah. Grace and truth is good medicine. I don't, I mean, it doesn't rhyme or whatever, but I don't know. Like that was one of those things that really stuck with me because I'm like, I don't know if it's. Yeah. And so John is saying Jesus is full of both of those things. He's full of grace and he's not afraid to tell you the truth. We'll see that throughout his life as we read through the gospels. Sometimes these things are easiest seen or understood like in practice, right? So who's somebody in your life that has had a good combination of grace and truth and how has that formed you? I think I see it like represented by friends really well. Like the people who like know me, who can look me in the eye and be like, come on, you, what were you thinking there? And recently I had a friend asking me about like an interaction I had with someone else and I was very resolute. Like, no, I feel betrayed by this person. And he was able, my friend Josh was able to like string it out and go, okay, hold on. Where's the grace that you're showing this individual in that space? And then he was able to like pinpoint the thing where I was like a couple of degrees off. And I think it's because he was able to point that out with grace that it actually has had me thinking about it for days on end of like, oh, this is the thing that God is pointing out to me in this space. And I think if he just would have, you know, stuck his finger in my chest to be like, you're so wrong in this, then I just couldn't have heard it. But the fact that he like walked along with me and had that grace in showing me and like pointing

that out and helping me discover it made it, I think, transformative in that space. It's kind of like that like Mary Poppins, a little spoonful of sugar. We have the medicine. Truth is the medicine and grace is the sugar that helps it go down. That's awesome. Yeah. What else? So when I first started my job at CityLink, I got matched up with a woman to be my mentor and I met with her regularly. And oh my gosh, she was so seasoned. Just an incredible story, incredible woman. And that's the first time that I encountered somebody who spoke truth, but also was so full of grace. And so as I was doing things and learning how to lead and managing my team, she would just like speak the honest truth, but do it in such a way that I was like, oh my gosh, okay. And she'd wrap it up in biblical truth, which was beautiful. And then, but do it in a way where I didn't feel judged and I felt where I could be vulnerable with her, fully vulnerable, fully authentic. And I mean, I think that's, that's why I grew the way that I did, you know, because she was, she was willing to do it and I was willing to step in that space with her. And like, even in my relationships moving forward, I try to do that as much as I can. I try to remember what she, how well she guided me and led me. And I try to incorporate that into my conversations, but she was just a master, a master at it. It's always like Jamie was saying, grace and truth together is transformative. Yeah, it really is. Kind of like what, what we're all pointing at. I think for me, I think about my wife. We got married. I knew that I was like, I mean, she got a catch bro. I mean, you know, God really loves her. I knew that. Yeah. God really loved my wife because he gave, you know, because he gave me to her. And she was really good at pointing out my flaws. Not in a mean way, but things that I had ignored because I could because I live by myself and I could be selfish and I could do all these things, you know, and she's really helped sharpen me so much so that we laugh a lot. I'm not the same person that she married, I'm a better person because she brings truth when I need it and my biggest mess ups have been in our marriage, like costing us money or time or friendships, relationships, whatever, like just messing up left and right and even though she gives me truth when I need it, I mean she's full of grace, right?

And so I'm just thankful for how that's transformed me because I'm not the same goofball that I was when we got married 13 years ago. What a gift that is. Oh, it's huge, man. Yeah, like I'm listening to all of the stories and even thinking about, you know, people who reflect that in my life and it's like that is just such a gift that we get to have, you know, just people who reflect that so well that it impacts us, we benefit from it, but then now we have a more closer reference point for what that looks like in our relationships moving forward. Totally. Yeah. The book of Romans says that God is conforming us into the image of Jesus. It's just a way of saying he's making us more like Jesus every day. Jesus was full of both of them, grace and truth, so while you self-examine yourself, which of those is harder for you? And is there anything that you need to do to grow in that area? Again, I'm dropping these hard questions on you, so I'll start, right? I definitely know I am a grace person. I love to be like, it's okay, man, you know, like, we're going to make it through. I love you. And a lot of times I can avoid truth because I don't want to make anybody mad. I don't want to create any relational tension. And that just allows bad habits to continue if I don't ever call them out, right? And so I'm learning to do that. I know all my examples are with my kids, but I'm learning to do that with my kids, right? Like, you can't say that to your mom. You can't act like that with your friends, right? Like, I love you. I still love you. I still love you the same as I did before you did that dumb thing, but don't do that

dumb thing again. So that's me. Yeah. I lean toward truth. I'm a straight shot, no chaser. I've been called that. But I really have to, like, take a step back. I can step into the gray space if I understand your heart, but if I don't naturally go there. So if you're not, if I'm not getting an understanding of where your heart is, it's really easy for me to just lean into truth. And sometimes grace is coming, but my truth comes too fast. And so they don't, they don't come together. Yeah. But that's, that's kind of how I roll. I realize with me, I think in most cases, they're, they're probably the same until it's someone closest to me, then it's more truth than grace, per my wife. That's what she, she, she's pointed that out a few times. If it's not a situation that's actually, you know, if it's people where the thing doesn't like, it's not emotionally taxing for me, then I tend to like, you know, be able to operate in both of those spaces. I can think through it and then apply the grace in truth. But then I think it's, it's, it tends to be like the people that are closest to me, they tend to get more truth than grace from me, if I'm honest. Truth is efficient. It is. Grace takes time. It's the least amount of words. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Are you going to tell me you're a truth person too?

I am a truth person. I knew I liked you. My brain will immediately see the like, oh, this is the thing. And then I look at you and I go, okay, if I have time, okay, great. Here's the grace rapper that can help you. But I'm also that person who's like, what actually goes on in the back of my mind is like, you know, when you point at someone, like three fingers are pointing back at you. So as soon as the truth is like going out of my mouth, I'm like, oh no, there's truth that I need to receive and I want to receive it with grace, I think. So how do I like, see you as the individual and like, I'm reminded of that definition of grace that grace is getting the thing that you don't deserve and mercy is not getting the thing that you do. And so when like sharing truth with someone of like, okay, God operated in both and I'm not Jesus and I'm not perfect, but how might I consider like what you need to hear or like what might Jesus be saying to you in this space and just affirming who you are. The truth isn't meant to tear you down, it's really meant to build you up. And so without the grace, it just feels like, like I'm demolishing you and that's never the heart. Yeah, that's right. That's a great point. God is growing all of us in grace and truth. So today I'm surrounded by all my truth people I'm gonna drop a challenge on you. Okay, ask God to grow you in the area Where you need it, right? So identify the one that you are already great at now look at the other one Look for opportunities for God to grow you today and ask him for those. I think he'll give them to you. We'll see you tomorrow You