SESSION six
Grace reframed
Dave Evans—Adjunct Lecturer, Stanford; Author, Designing Your Life; Co-founder, Electronic Arts
DAVE EVANS expands our understanding of GRACE as god's invitation INTO A LIFE OF "DOING STUFF."
From his experience as a co-founder of a tech giant, through immersion in a wide variety of Christian spiritual traditions, to a series of career stints in higher education, business strategy, and publishing, Dave Evans has been helping people discover the joy and freedom in their vocation.
In this last talk of the Praxis Course, Dave reframes our understanding of the foundational Christian idea of grace. It's not only about being “saved from” the penalty for our sin; it's also about being “saved for” a life of free and imperfect action in the face of uncertainty, as we seek to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Dave Evans delivered this talk at the Praxis Annual Academy, an intensive one-week session on entrepreneurship for college students.
HOSTING OFFLINE?
FINISHED THIS SESSION?
OPEN IN PRAYER
RECONNECT (10 min)
Last session, jon tyson redirected us to live for the approval of god rather than the world. What steps did you take to break free from "the winners' script" and live instead for the intimacy and approval of God? how did this pivot affect the way you approached your work over the last week? what did you learn?
WATCH (7 min)
DISCUSS (20 min)
1. in your church experience, has the message of grace been presented and lived only as about "saved from," or also about "saved for"?
who in your life has modeled a "saved for" understanding of grace for you?
2. THE MAN WHO WAS GIVEN ONE TALENT HID IT OUT OF FEAR: OF NOT meeting EXPECTATIONS, of not being sure what to do, of not knowing what would happen. where in your life can you identify and empathize most with the one-talent servant? are there TALENTS YOU've BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH BUT ARE concealing or safeguarding from risk?
WATCH (13 min)
REFLECT (3-5 min)
Spend a couple of minutes in silence, praying and reflecting on the videos. Ask participants to jot down questions that were raised, significant points, where they felt encouraged or challenged by the Lord, etc.
DISCUSS (30 min)
3. Dave says that the core human temptation is the promise of certainty, as represented in the tree of knowledge. However, God doesn't intend for us to have certainty but faith, which means to act despite having doubt. Dave goes on to say, "do your homework, but watch out for the trap of certainty.” What is your reaction to this teaching? Are there areas of your life where you tend to fall into the trap of certainty?
4. The Book of Acts recounts the work of the apostles, who were formerly timid and passive but are now empowered by the Holy Spirit to take bold action. What role can the Holy Spirit play in your entrepreneurial journey?
5. Remember Andy Crouch’s quote from session one:“The question in how we’re going to change the world is actually the same question about how we are going to be changed. And it’s not what “are we going to do? It’s ‘what is God doing?’" In this session, quoting Martin Luther, Dave invites us to “sin boldly” in order to “trust God boldly.” How do we reconcile these two statements into wisdom for our vocational journey? How can we be humbly surrendered to God’s will and direction (as Andy says) and be bold and free (as Dave says) at the same time?
PROTOTYPE (3 min)
PRAXIS BELIEVES THAT ENTREPRENEURS SEE A BETTER FUTURE AND PROCEED TO CREATE IT. NOW THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW FROM THIS COURSE, WHAT IS GOD STIRRING IN YOUR HEART TO GO OUT AND DO? think about how you might test a prototype version of some kind of redemptive work or project in your current work or in your free time.
Take some time to develop this with a friend or coworker. stay in contact with your group and update them on how this is going.