| Book
Review – Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in
a Culture Stripped of Grace |
|
Author — Miroslav
Volf
Published by Zondervan
Review by Tom Gilbert
Miroslav Volf is a distinguished theologian and his
book, Free
of Charge – Giving and Forgiving in a Culture
Stripped of Grace (Zondervan) explores two essential elements of Christianity. Giving
and forgiving are given great lip service by Christians, but how many of
us consistently practice both?
Volf shows us in this book, both through personal experience,
and from his interpretation of the true meaning of giving and forgiving,
how to practice these virtues. He relies on Martin Luther’s and St.
Paul’s teaching to a large extent and he writes about it eloquently.
A basic theme in the book is that at the heart of giving and forgiveness
we discover the heart of God. In fact, only with God can we embrace with
grace both giving and forgiving.
The age old dilemma of human self will makes it impossible
for us to give, or forgive, like God does. God does for us what we can’t
do for ourselves. We often place restrictions or limits on giving. When
our gifts are essentially transactions, when we hope that in giving we
will get something in return, we miss the point of unconditional love.
The same is true of forgiveness. We can try to forgive, but on our own
we are powerless to release guilt or resentment. But with God’s gift,
expressed in human form by Jesus Christ and manifested by the sacrifice
made on our behalf, we are invited to participate in the way of love. We
can give of ourselves with God’s grace flowing through us. We can
also forgive in this way.
There are many challenging questions that we all have
about how to give and forgive rightly. We know intellectually that we should
do so as God does, as shown to us through the God-man Jesus Christ. But
we are often so consumed by justification, righteousness, worry over whether
our gift to someone in need will be received and not abused and whether
it is right to forgive someone if they are not repentant. Volf illustrates
through example and teaching that we must trust that God’s way is
perfect. Love, in its true meaning, is unconditional. Giving and forgiving
must also begin with this premise. We give and forgive unconditionally
because to hold back in some way has us putting restrictions on these matters.
God so loves us that through Jesus he forgave us all first, whether we
choose to accept the forgiveness or not. And, God does so despite our unworthiness
and or unwillingness to repent. This is the greatest gift, the gift of
abundant life free of restrictions. God gave his only son so that we may
all become free.
Of course, it is our human choice whether to accept a
gift, or to receive or offer forgiveness. Again, we must face the fact
that we cannot do it on our own. We have to have God’s help. Thus
the indwelling of Christ in each of us allows God to give and forgive others
by doing it through us!
The challenge for all humans is to believe and accept
that God’s love is perfect and that we can be both recipients and
transmitters of this divine love. Throughout my reading of this book I
discovered new insight and an enlightened perspective from Volf’s
writing. The author recognizes how difficult it is to give and forgive
in today’s culture. Our society does not celebrate such unselfish
virtues. So he shares with us his own struggles, his soul searching and
theological study, and how ultimately we show we are true Christians when
we learn to embrace forgiveness and giving.
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| Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale
Divinity and Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. |
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Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
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trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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