Ajith on the Possibilities of Grace

Earlier this year, one of my all-time favorite theologians and ministers, Ajith Fernando (of Youth for Christ) wrote a wonderful article on Christian leadership and the possibilities of grace.

A few paragraphs really struck me personally, because I could SO relate to the “people who society has given up on.” (I’ve had a bunch of people–ostensibly friends who loved me–give up on me without warning.)

O, that I would learn to give the kind of grace that Dr. Fernando speaks of in this excerpt! Hope it blesses you as much as it blessed me.

God bless you! And G’nite–

Your friend,
Tara B.

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(An excerpt from LEADERSHIP ISSUES: From an interview of Ajith Fernando given to Keswick Convention)

“One of the keys to Christian community is risk-taking by believing in the possibilities of grace in a person and taking the risk of promoting that person even though others may not see much good in that person. I am writing this at YFC’s drug rehab centre. We could not do this work unless we believed that God will make the students here into great people even though society has given up on them. But because of the scars they have got through their tough experiences, they will be rough people and blunder a lot in their path to leadership. But we will take the risk of assigning responsibilities to people because we believe in the possibilities of grace.

But we must see that these persons we promote to leadership have a heart for God, are teachable and sincere in desiring to please God. With such we can take risks. They will stumble and do many undiplomatic things, but in the end they will come out as powerful servants of Christ. But if there is no heart for God we must be very careful even though their talents may greatly help in carrying out the programme of the church.

The key to Christian success is bringing glory to God by doing his work in his way. His way is holy. A person who is unkind to his wife may be able to very effectively lead a group to achieve a measurable goal. But he cannot be a leader in the church until that problem in his life has been solved. So we keep him involved, and work with him until—not only his abilities but also—his character qualifies him for leadership.”