“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Philemon 1:25
Grace: “The free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God.”
China has forgotten grace and it’s been replaced with excellence and perfection. Every time I met with a college student or a parent with a little one in school I was reminded of this. It seems like in China nothing is acceptable unless it’s perfect.
One of our ministries was something called English Corner. All over the city of Dalian people meet once a week to practice their English skills.
One English Corner in particular was held outside of a University. Mostly, we were talking with 20 somethings, but one family walked up and I started chatting with them. They had their 11 year old daughter with them. She was sweet and funny. She asked me to sing Frozen’s, Let it Go. Eventually I told her how impressed I was with her English skills and how I would love to speak a second language. But that my three years of high school Spanish didn’t stick with me. Her response almost knocked me on my butt. I can still hear her sweet little voice, “Well you probably didn’t apply yourself. You really should be trying harder if you want to be successful.”
True, but have you ever been put in your place like that from an 11 year old?
Without warning I felt small and unaccomplished.
It didn’t stop there. All month I was faced with this reality of perfection and excellence. I watched as parents pushed their children to be the best at everything. There were Lego classes. It’s an art and one to be perfected apparently. There were rollerblading classes and paper cutting classes. Everywhere I looked I saw little machines in the making being oiled and tweaked.
Unconsciously I jumped on the perfect train. I didn’t enroll in Lego class but I wanted to be the best Christian there ever was. Throughout the month a funny thing happened, the harder I tried the more I failed.
At the end of the month we had the opportunity to help out with Special Olympics. It was a day where my new standards were crushed.
Each one of us was paired with a child who has Autism. I was with Tony, I think he’s 12. He’s nonverbal and uncomfortable in social situations. Tony’s mom in vulnerable and strong. She’s tired. 12 years ago she was asked to give up societies standards of perfection and define a new standard.
She wasn’t just asked, but forced to give up hopes of excellence for Tony. Instead she spends her time thinking about ways to take care of him or how he’ll find some sort of education. She hopes that one day he will be more independent and that public outbursts won’t scare off any new friends.
Every time Tony missed a beat or lost his temper his mom didn’t scold him, she corrected him instead. She loved him, no matter what he did and no matter what passerbyers thought. Weeks of comparing myself to my team and wondering what I could do to make God love me more was dissolved in that one hour with Tony.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
