Are you a sinner or status seeker? This is the question that I keep asking myself while reading the book. Brennan Manning describes status seekers as those who maintain a pious and right living at the expense of missing the joy of Christian life. He refers to this behavior as "elder brother syndrome" based on the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 (p. 57). Status seekers are so preoccupied with winning God's favor by religiously performing spiritual activities. They perceive that doing religious duties will enhance their spiritual self-worth. Absent in their spiritual construct is the idea of surrendering to the grace of Christ. Status seekers miss the true reality that we are broken. Therefore, they live under the mask of hypocrisy.
On the other hand, if we perceive ourselves as sinners, we openly accept the reality that we are weak, but God is strong. We are not ashamed to let God know that we are broken. We do not have to wear a false face. In fact, by being honest about who we are, we are being set free from our necessity to prove our spiritual self-worth. In the gospel, we read the story of a sinful woman who unashamedly kissed Jesus' feet. She did so because "she had accepted the truth of her utter nothingness" (P. 87). Getting honest about our nothingness enables us to experience the richness and the depth of God's grace (Ephesians 3:17-19).
Manning spends almost the entire of the book describing the intensity of God's love and very little on morality. One may question whether he is advocating "cheap grace." Does Manning ignore Paul's instruction for righteous living (Romans 6:18)? Not at all. Manning strongly believes that ragamuffins make better servants than moral legalists. They would not sit down to be served, but they would kneel down to serve. They would complain less because they understood that they too often fail to be good servants (p. 214).
Manning has helped me re-learn the meaning of God's grace in my life. He helps me see the shallowness of my moralistic living. For many years, my understanding of a Christian life is defined as accepting Jesus and doing the right things. My moralistic living has turned me to be like the "elder brother." It has robbed me the joy of Christian life. In fact, it has caused much tension and much irritation to my wife and children because of my preoccupation of being right. It is like a spiritual rebirth for me. I tasted anew God's grace. I am grateful that Manning took the pain of sharing his imperfect life in writing this book, and doing so, he liberates others like me. I would rate Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel 5 star.
