In this reading, Yancey speaks about his trip to South Africa in 2006. He toured through a number of cities and he said what most astounded him was how this country modeled to him the concept of grace on such a large level. It was a country that disassembled it’s nuclear weapons rather than building more. Following apartheid Mandela focused on reconciliation more than justice. He even hired a white South African policeman to be his bodyguard. He spoke in churches that were full of Afrikaans and then the next day in a balck charismatic church. What he saw was people who even in their diversity still accepted the same faith.
So often race is a factor that divides, even within churches. Yancey here wants us to think for a moment of how grace can help overcome barriers that seem insurmountable, thinks like racial hatred or political injustice. Think for a second of the obstacles in your life that seem too daunting. . . . Remember how grace has already overcome the greatest barriers in your life, the ones that separated you from God. How might you be able to apply grace to the challenges you face today? After all, grace is a real, alive thing, that impacts every day.
