This has been a hard week. I lost a hero and a friend. Jerry Bridges was both to me. There is no way to express the magnitude of his impact on my life. To me it feels like an unnatural silence has come over the Christian world without Jerry’s faithful voice. He was an untiring teacher of the gospel of grace.
Jerry was a friend. We taught conferences together and retreats together. On the Sundays that we were both in town, we would sit near each other in church…if space allowed next to each other in the same pew. Just a few months ago Sue and I sat with Jerry and his wife Jane over dinner telling stories and laughing. It was a special time. Now it not only seems quieter, but emptier and lonelier.
And he taught me. Next week I will share with you my most memorable breakfast with Jerry and the insight he gave me into the grace of God that has been key in laying down my performance driven Christian life. He taught me something I never heard from anyone else.
For now, just a quote from his book Transforming Grace.
“My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our relationship with God on our performance instead of His grace. If we’ve performed well – whatever ‘well’ is in our opinion – then we expect God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works, rather than by grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the ‘sweat’ of our own performance.
Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one 
another to ‘try harder’. We seem to believe success in the Christian life (however we define success) is basically up to us: our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. We give lip service to the attitude of the Apostle Paul, ‘But by the grace of God I am what I am (I Cor 15:10), but our unspoken motto is, ‘God helps those who help themselves.'”
Jerry never gave lip service to the grace of God.
ACTION: The only appropriate action this week is to pray for Jane and the Bridges family and that God would raise up a new generation of men like Jerry to stand in the gap he has left.
Thank you Bill. Jerry opened my eyes to an experience of grace through his teaching that has not stopped. His words gave a framework to my life experiences and have shaped my own ministry, counseling, parenting, marriage and friendships.
Travis – it is obvious to those who know you that the gospel of grace has shaped your life.
Thank you, Bill, for your thoughtful reflection. Many of us share your admiration of Jerry Bridges. I’m grateful that the Lord has written the message of grace into your life, as well, a story that has impacted me and countless others. You follow in his train…and I’m grateful.
Thank you Galen. Isn’t it amazing the impact the gospel of grace has on people.
Great words Bill. Wishing we could be at the funeral to celebrate Jerry’s life and influence on our lives as well.
Thank you Susan. Jerry had a great ministry but was one of the most humble men I knew.
Beautiful, Bill. A worthy tribute to a great and gracious man!
Thank you Peggy! And is was so good to be with you and Doug last week.
Amen, Bill. Jerry Bridges name and presence has long defined the real ministry of the Navigators – and of all who truly serve our Lord. Glad to hear that he had such an impact in your life as well. Yet, all that was from the Lord who is still with us all in His Spirit. Thanks for all you shared about Jerry and the Lord’s work through him.
Every time I review 2 Cor. 5:21, I think of him. Especially his statement in The Transforming Power of the Gospel where he says “If in old age my memory begins to fail, I pray that I can at least remember this verse.” When I read that sentence, I thought maybe I ought to give it more than a passing thought.
Christianity Today has a nice post, too. His books helped me understand this quote from their post: “The fifth is that the gospel is not just for unbelievers and their coming to Christ; rather, all of us who are believers need the gospel every day because we are still practicing sinners.”
http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/march/died-jerry-bridges-pursuit-of-holiness-navigators-obit.html
What a great God we serve. To have blessed our lives with this man of God is just of small measure of God’s great grace towards us who knew Jerry.
Wish you and Pam could have been here yesterday for Jerry’s memorial service. Moving beyond words. What a man of humility.
Sorry for your loss Bill. I had not heard of Jerry Bridges until now but will definitely read or listen to his writings. He sounds like a man who truly understood what it means to live by grace.
Stuart – as you read his writings on the gospel of grace, you will not be disappointed and your soul will delight in the great news of the gospel.
Bill thank you for sharing this. Jerry’s influence on has in turn allowed you to do the same for so many of us worn out by religion.
I am sorry for your loss.
The tribe of grace mourns with you
Thanks Steve-had a beautiful memorial service for Jerry yesterday. Wonderfully gospel focused.