CHEAP GRACE.

Brother Lawrence did not have this kind of preaching and singing in mind [the kind that seeks its own easy glory, rather than God's]. He washed dishes; it was enough for him. He did not need to preach like the superstars of his day (and surely there were some). He had no need to travel about doing some medicine show for Jesus. No, his testimony was simple: "We must serve God in a Holy freedom, going about our business carefully, but without stress or anxiety, recalling the mind of God...whenever we find it wandering."

The purpose of God for our lives has to do primarily with fellowship, not entertainment. There is only basis that we may find this fellowship with God and that is with godliness. 1 Tim. 4:7 begs us to discipline ourselves for godliness. There are many books out now on discipline. Deitrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that salvation without discipline is merely cheap grace. It is a poor attempt to buy the most of God with the least of our yielding. Dallas Williard, in the Spirit of the Disciplines, says,

My central claim is that we can become like Christ by doing one thing - by following him in the overall style of life he chose for himself. If we have faith in Christ, we must believe that he knew how to live. We can, through faith and grace, become like Christ by practicing the types of activities he engaged in, by arranging our whole lives around the activities he himself practiced in order to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of his Father.

In the Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence has this glorious order in mind, that we will practice the discipline of relationship. Charles Spurgeon wrote, "I must take care above all that I cultivate communion with Christ for though that can never be the basis of my peace - mark that - yet it will be the channel of it." Our relationship with God and our hunger for that relationship is God's agenda. He does not require our amazing talent to be laid on the altar. He requires our lives to be the altar. We are never to be content with merely DOING things for God. We are central in his will only as we hunger for more of him. When we crave his presence, our music will transcend accompaniment tapes, and our preaching will throb with otherworldly power. Seek the kingdom, Jesus said (Matt 6:33), and then we will be able to dispense with every salute to our weak genius.

(Calvin Miller, The Unchained Soul)