When I was in junior high I was selected to be a member of a high school dropout prevention club.  The school was working with the county on this special initiative and as a result, students in the club were given certain privileges to go along with the responsibilities.  One of those privileges was a hall pass signed by the head of school security.

The intention was for students to use the pass to attend special meetings and programs.  But needless to say, I did what most kids would do with that hall pass…I abused it.  We all did.  We’d stroll to class late and schedule unnecessary meetings, secure in the grace that hall pass would bring.   Eventually we almost spent as much time out of class as the students we were encouraging to stay in school! 

I don’t even remember how the club ended, or why, but I truthfully don’t think we accomplished all that we could have.  We were more focused on the hall pass than the students who needed our help.

Sometimes I think we use God’s grace like I used that hall pass.  We get into situations that were completely avoidable and when it comes time to deal with the issues that drove us there, we pull out our grace card and hide behind it.  Or, we mistreat people and expect them to rejoice over our half-hearted apologies because we are counting on them to have grace—rather than counting on ourselves to repent and be different.