What’s so Amazing About Grace Book Report
Cameron Peterson Mr. Oswald Romans Period 4 11 January 2012 What’s So Amazing about Grace? Book Report What’s So Amazing about Grace? is a book written by Philip Yancey. It begins with a twisted story of a prostitute living on the streets. She is unable to feed her two-year old child and has to find another way to earn money. She could not think of any other alternatives and began selling her child out for prostitution. She could make much more money this way than she could in one night.
The woman began counseling and when asked if she had ever considered going to church, her response was that attending church would only make her feel worse about herself. Yancey describes Earth as a place full of “ungrace”. This is a term that Yancey uses to describe the absence of grace. He goes on to talk about grace, calling it one of the last “unspoiled” words today and highlighting the lack of it among the church. Yancey says that the world is filled with ungrace and that we live in an atmosphere full of it. We are in danger of it becoming normal to us, and being desensitized to the lack of grace in the world.
Yancey uses a few examples to show us what grace should be like in the world we live in. He gives an example using the movie Babette’s Feast. He shows that grace is something given with no strings attached or charge. In the movie, grace is given to those who definitely do not deserve it. In fact, these people barely know how to receive grace in the first place. Yancey also uses Jesus’ parables as examples for grace. One example he uses is the parable of the lost sheep. He explains that the shepherd shows grace to the one sheep that was lost among the other ninety-nine sheep.
He points out that grace is not mathematical, and that it is not logical. Yancey tells us that this is what grace is truly about. Illogical giving with no strings attached. Yancey also talks about how grace is for everybody. He uses Jesus as an example many times. Never did Jesus tell someone that they could not be forgiven if they only came to Him. This all-extending property of grace is important to remember. Because Jesus extended grace to all, we should do the same. There are none who are not deserving or worthy of our grace. This is important for us to remember.
It is true that grace does not come easy, and that it is not necessarily easy to give. Grace is not a small display of kindness; it is a sacrifice and a gift to others. Just as Jesus gave us the gift of grace by suffering and dying on the cross for us, we should be able to give gifts of grace at our own expense to others. I very much enjoyed this book and was spiritually moved by it. I agree with most of what Philip Yancey has to say about lack of grace not only in the church, but in the world also. In today’s day and age, it seems that everyone is in it for themselves.
Most do not take the time of day to stop and give their grace to the needy. It helped to strengthen my view that all of deserving of grace and that we, as Christians, should be reading to give our grace to others. While I do support that idea that we need to cure the world of “ungrace”, I do not feel that we need to do this in order to earn God’s grace. This is a view that Yancey supports in the book and I do not happen to agree with it. Grace is in fact, a gift and it is not something we have to earn by giving other’s grace.
By following God’s example, we should also give others this same grace God gave us, but it is not a requirement in order for us to receive His grace. Overall, I feel spiritually strengthened by this book and would encourage others to read it. While it was difficult to understand sometimes, a little wordy, I find that many would also enjoy this book. It offers a lot of insight into grace and how it can be a blessing in our lives, both by receiving it and giving it. Works Cited Yancey, Philip. What’s So Amazing about Grace?. Zondervan, 1997.
