A new understanding of Grace

One of the things I have struggled with in my faith is grace. For many people grace came to them while they were at the bottom of something, and out of their darkness, the light of grace shone to them. I know people who have turned from drugs, or other destructive lifestyles because of grace. The grace that they experience is real and relevant in their lives. I would not call myself perfect, in fact I am far from perfect, but I am also very optimistic, and so my sins seem minor, and while I believe in God's grace, it has been something I desperately needed, my sins were never too much of a concern. One dichotomy that can be made is between Christ's call to salvation and Christ's call to service. At the extreme ends, the sole purpose of the Gospel is either salvation, or a call to help the least, the last, and the lost. While I would not say that I fall to an extreme, I tend to focus more on the call to service rather than salvation in the Gospel, which again can be traced back to my own mild need for salvation and my upbringing which taught me to help those in need. A few weeks ago I had an insight that helped to change that perspective. One of the texts that I have always struggled with is Matthew 25:40, "what you do unto the least of these, you do unto me." This is Jesus' reminder of how we need to see and treat each person around us as being part of God. One of the things that I have come to realize is how much I fail in this regard. It is not that I ever mistreat, but that I will never be able to do everything I can to help those in need. My sinful nature is not one of positive destructive action, it is like what Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "we will be judged in this century, not by the terrible deeds of the wicked, but by the appalling silence of the good." (I am roughly quoting here) I am not one committing the terrible deeds of the wicked, but often I am part of that appalling silence that does nothing. I am too comfortable in my lifestyle to make the radical changes that a Christ-like life calls for. Just as much as any person living a destructive life of drugs and violence, I am in need of Grace, because without it I have no hope of following Christ. At least for myself I have a better understanding of the balance between what I see as the dual message of the Gospel.

Forget and/or forgive

A couple of different things over the last few days have caused me to want to consider what forgiveness means in the church. I was watching a rerun episode of Law and Order on TNT last night and the case revolved around whether or not a person who committed a crime years ago and then had become a born again Christian, should be punished for his crime, or whether his clear transformation and devoted life since was in fact a sign of rehabilitation and that the court should not punish him for something that God had forgiven him for. The second incident I am less aware, but noticed in a NY Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/us/06church.html. New Life Church in Colorado Springs has done an "audit" of its staff in the wake of Ted Haggred's resignation. At least one person appearantly has been fired for "unrelated issues of sin."
These two incidents lead to me to wonder where grace and forgiveness really come into play in our daily lives. Each of these examples seems to show how the grace of God, which takes away our sins, does not infact remove us from punishment. Now, I certainly agree that there is a compelling arguement for punishment in the court system separate from grace. After all, the reason for the courts is not in fact to deal with sins, but infact to maintain justice in society. Any punishment that should occur is done because of harm that has been done to the victims and also to the society as a whole by the criminal. But does this argument hold up in a church as well.
I agree there can be excellent reasons for forgiveness working along side "punishment." Often things like child molestation are not isolated sins, but a sign of something deeper that needs to be treated even as the person is forgiven. The reason for defrock a minister over such an instance is not punish them, but because it is no longer in their own interests or the interests of the church to have them as a minister. They need to deal with their own problems instead.
Taking all of this into account there is still the question of firing church staff for their sins. I do not know the particulars of New Life Church, nor would I want to stand in judgement of them if I did. I simply want to take the possibility of what is reported to have occurred there and use it for my own ethical speculations. It would seem to me that what is essential in an issue of the sins of church staff is the level of sin. As I said before I think there are some sins which are clearly signs of deeper problems. Forgiving someone for passing out drunk at your house one night does not overcome the issue of alcoholism they might be dealing with. It is also understandable that there are some sins which undermine the trust necessary for a pastor to do their work. Such an instance could mean thave even as a congregation forgives the individual, it is no longer possible for them to continue as the pastor.
Can we forgive and still punish? Does the removal of sin remove that from us? Is it not punishment that is important but instead reformation? Should we be concerned not with punishing, but assisting both sinner and any victims of sin of re-establishing the best life possible. As much as I understand the need for punishment and a cost for one's actions. What makes God's forgiveness so powerful is that it takes away the cost. Inspite of everything else, it just seems to me that ultimately, forgiveness that is accompanied by punishment is not true forgiveness. There are a great deal of caveats to that statement, but I think I have ponder them enough.