The fact that Lutherans and Roman Catholics came to an agreement over the issue of grace is a work of grace in itself. I mean, the Christian community has been divided and subdivided over the centuries and for everything gained, something is lost... I wish the schisms had never happened and we could be one people following Jesus and not letting the details get in the way. Of course people have taken their positions very seriously, have drawn lines in the sand and said if you cross this line, you are no longer one of us. But I wonder with a God's eye view of the things we get so worked up over, if the differences are worth arguing about.

I say this as a very argumentative person. I definitely feel guilty of pursuing points when, who cares really and I end up just making the other person mad. Of course then other times I let things slide, when I wish I would have spoken up- it's so hard to get it right. Sort of like Job's buddies that hurt more than they helped. It's hard to know how to approach another person, if you should approach another person, and then what to say or do.

I am glad there is a Methodist predilection towards prevenient grace. I can get on board the idea of a trail blazing sort of grace that goes before us. It makes a lot of sense, since we are probably too goofy to be counted on to seek Christ entirely on our own. And it does take the heat off so to speak, to think that grace is at work and that if you muff it with someone and they don't get the beauty of the Christian message the way you are portraying it, that somehow, grace will put the situation right- the right person with the right message will appear at the right time to help.
After all, we have the mental image of devils laying in wait for us; wouldn't it make sense that an omnipotent God would take our vulnerability and lostness into to account. I surely think so.

Back to the reconciliation of Lutherans and Roman Catholics. I've been thinking that because we don't generally condone a wide range of beliefs in one denomination, that doesn't mean they are not there. The ordinary man in the pew might not be aware of the actual denominational differences, but if they get too uncomfortable in one church, they might hop the denominational fence or drop out all together. Which is why, I wish we could adopt a more Asian stance and just say we follow Jesus, and not get too attached to details that are subject to interpretation and in 1,000 years perhaps a particular church might not have the same take on the situation that it does today.