Honest Q: I've been struggling w/ how quickly we use the phrase "there go I but for the grace of God" when scandal breaks & I can't figure out why exactly. Why does it feel like cheap grace?

I hear it & my gut response is, "Really? Are you really that close to scandal at every waking moment? As if you might accidentally fall into it except by Divine intervention?"

Don't get me wrong: I'm first to affirm human depravity & general terribleness of human beings. We're sinners & none of us are immune from temptation of pride, lust, greed, hatred, envy, sloth, etc.

Perhaps I'm struggling w/ notion that sin creeps up on us & tackles us completely unaware instead of us slowly giving ourself to sinful habits bit by bit over the years until we find ourselves in over our heads.

Once scandal finally hits, it's not out of the blue. It's the culmination of years of smaller choices that build into a life & practice that yields to & even seeks out sin. Our patterns are established long before temptation presents itself.

Conversely, if you're aware of your sinfulness in small, everyday ways & you're sensitive to conviction, you're going to build a life of habitually rejecting temptation & pursuing good.

It's not that we don't ever stumble & fall, but that we're more likely to stumble & fall when we're straggering drunk on sin & self-centeredness than when we're trying to walk soberly & carefully in the world.

And yes, the grace of God empowers this. Not talking about self-reliance. But if we're humbly seeking God's power in daily living, if we're repenting, if we're in faithful communion, God's grace is already at work. It's not a magic spell that keeps us from scandal.

I say all this wanting to fully affirm the deceitfulness of sin & to encourage us all to grow in self-awareness. I'm just struggling w/ it as a rhetorical response in certain situations. Will think some more. Also, the comments have some good additional thoughts.