On the Steps of 247

She sat all alone on the steps of 247, with earbuds in to keep the world out. Her face was expressionless, her body motionless, her eyes fixated on something far beyond the student center across the street. 

She barely turned when my friend Katelyn and I sat down to strike up a conversation.

"Can we ask you a few questions?" 

She raised her eyebrows. 

In Setswana, that's a half-hearted yes.

We chatted a bit about Tswana culture and traditions and university life before the conversation turned to spiritual matters. 

"What makes someone a Christian?" I asked, searching her face. 

For the first time she met my gaze. "Keeping the law, I guess. Not breaking any of the Ten Commandments."

"Do you know anyone who has done that? Is there anyone who has perfectly kept the Ten Commandments?" Katelyn gently prodded.

An icy blast of air conditioning gave momentary relief from the suffocating heat as the doors of the building behind us opened to let out a crowd of students. She shifted away slightly as she thought about the question. 

"Yes," she finally answered.

I'm sure I did not hide my surprise. "Who? Who do you know that has never sinned?"

"The people at my church. There are men and women-- they say they've kept the whole law. And I… well, I've tried but I'm not perfect like them."

We shared with her that despite what her fellow church members might claim, "no one will be declared righteous in [God's] sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." (Romans 3:20) The good news is that being right with God doesn't depend on our keeping the law (vs 21-22).

Grace.

That's what her name meant in Setswana. 

And it's the answer to the questions she kept bottled inside. 

This conversation took place over eight months ago while I was still in Botswana. Something I read today in Acts brought it back to my memory…  "through [Jesus] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed from by the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38b-39)

We are freed from everything the law fails to free us from. 

That is good news for me, a doer. 

And that is good news for Grace, a seeker. 

I don't know what happened to her; we shared the gospel with her a couple more times in the following weeks but never saw her make a decision. I pray that she discovered the Ultimate Grace.