I can think of several people in my life who have “NO” written all over them. Do you know what I mean? A person who, without your ever having a conversation with her, just oozes the answer “no” to whatever query you might pose. Some days, it’s just a general NO to your very existence.

Well, for all those NO people in my life, I can also think of some YES people. The ones who look into the eyes of every person they encounter and communicate love and acceptance. The ones who see the gifts and abilities in you and always pull out those things. The people who overlook faults and will bend over backward to help you move forward or move higher in your pursuits. I love those people!

And thus began a whole afternoon of thinking about what makes someone a YES versus a NO …

There are probably several valid theories, but I’m going to go with this one: Law Mentality versus Grace Mentality.

When I say, “Law Mentality”, I’m talking about The Law from the Old Testament scriptures in the Bible. God gave Moses ten commandments by which to govern Israel, yes, but there are tons more rules and regulations listed in the Old Testament as well. If you are interested in a good read on these laws, check out the book of Leviticus in the Bible. It’s a trip!

But, more than just being a trip, it was God’s plain-as-day way to set His people apart. He was calling them out to live differently. His plan was to “consecrate” Israel to draw mankind to Himself. To display His goodness through Israel to the whole world and woo the world into a love affair with Him – the Almighty God, their Creator. In fact, all those physical, tangible laws in the Old Testament were meant to be a foreshadow of the process to come … many hundreds of years later, after Jesus showed up on the earth and ransomed mankind. Now, instead of a cleansing ritual imposed on us by The Law, we can spiritually experience the cleansing flow of Jesus’ blood that covers all our sin. We don’t have to go to a priest and offer a lamb on the altar to “atone” for all the mistakes we made last year. If we believe in Jesus and confess our desperate need for Him, He comes into our lives to cover us with His blood (He was the perfect, spotless Lamb, who died once for all); now we are set apart by the sacrifice He made for us.

Okay, that’s a theology class all on its own, so I’ll redirect our course back to the point. Many people in the Church today get stuck in Law Mentality. This thinking-trap looks so good to us because it seems to gives us a sense of security. It tells us that we can rely on ourselves to get somewhere and gain approval. It tells us that if we just do enough of the good things on our list of rules that we’re okay; but it’s a TRAP. Law Mentality people hold up a golden list of behaviors that they deem appropriate and then judge themselves and everyone else according to how many criteria they meet.

Attend church?

Read the right version of the Bible?

Wear the right clothes?

Use the right lingo?

Listen to the right music?

Have kids in the right school?

Run around with the right friends?

Participate in the right political circles?

Belong to the right clubs and causes?

Well, a NO person gets so accustomed to viewing the world through the grid of their box-checking that they start automatically assuming the worst about everyone. (Sometimes, even themselves. If they are not puffed up with pride in their own accomplishments and “approval rating”, chances are they beat themselves up and think they are worthless.) That’s the only logical progression if you base someone’s worth on a level of performance. Not one of us can live up to The Law – nevermind the twisted, self-imposed codes of conduct we each come up with on our own. The NO person has their eyes on the faults and the failures. The NO person sets himself up as the judge, the one who gives approval or disapproval. But, the Bible is so very clear on this subject:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way…”  Is. 53:6

“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’”  Rom. 3:10-12

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”  Rom. 3:23

Once a NO person makes this pattern of thinking his default setting, then he just starts oozing NO to those around him. A NO person comes up with a million reasons why something won’t work, why a certain person won’t fit the job, why your dreams could never be reality, why your answer is inferior to his. A NO person lives in the land of negativity … and guess who the ruler of that region is? The Father of Lies. Ring any bells?

If you happen to find yourself with a performance–grid lens in place, just hold on and we’ll have someone come shatter that thing for you in a second.

Grace Mentality, on the other hand, puts a lens in front of your eyes to see each person as an extremely precious and valuable soul. Someone with a Grace Mentality understands what it is to be the loser, the outcast, the failure – and then what it is like to be lifted out of those positions in life, to be loved and totally accepted by the Most High God. A YES person has a Grace Mentality. The YES person says, “I see you. I see who you think you are and I see who God says you are. I see the beauty in you. I see God’s artwork in you. I love you and I embrace you.”

Jesus’ whole life was about grace. He came to establish a new covenant – a New Testament – with mankind. No longer was our acceptance by God to be based on the level of our ritual-keeping; from then on, our acceptance by God was based solely on Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus gave His perfect, sinless life in place of yours so that when you gave Him your heart, you would finally be able to stand blamelessly before God. The blood of Jesus is what made that possible.

“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”  John 1:17

“…being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ…”  Rom. 3:24

Do you realize that even if you never did another “good thing” in your life that God would still love you passionately and give you His complete approval? If you have had a heart exchange and are under the blood of Jesus, God sees you hidden in Jesus’ heart. He sees Jesus when He looks at you.  God told the world audibly when He looked at Jesus, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” When you are in Christ, God is well pleased with you!

A person who has tasted mind-blowing grace can extend that grace.  Unfortunately, it is not automatic; each one of us has the choice to extend grace or not. But if you know Jesus, then it is entirely possible to live in the Grace Mentality. It is possible for you to be a YES person. It is possible for you to receive people with open arms and call out the best in them. It is possible for you to overlook faults, quirks, sins and ugliness so that you can love someone. That is how people are drawn into the Kingdom, friends.

Don’t you know that it’s a lot more fun to be a YES person??? Grace truly is amazing. It is full of life. It tells each person she is valuable because of who she IS, not what she DOES. It shows us our true identity in Christ. When you have the choice between grace and law, it almost seems like no choice at all! Grace kicks the Law’s rear end!

Are you looking through the lens of grace or the lens of the law? Do you feel a flow in the relationships of your life, or do you feel friction and jagged edges? Ask God to remind you of His grace. Ask Him to let grace flow out of your life. And then make the decision to put on the Grace Mentality. You do that by walking closely with God and by knowing His voice and His Word.

God is looking for His YES people on the earth. He is interested in partnership with you to accomplish His plans and purposes. When you let grace become the oil in your gears, you catch God’s eye. Grace unlocks potential, gives life and ushers in God’s will on the earth.

Time is too short to get caught up in the Law Mentality. We’re not playing church anymore, in case you hadn’t noticed. It’s time for the real sons and daughters to rise up! Eat, drink and breathe grace, and let’s start releasing God’s Kingdom on earth!

Crista Ashworth

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