Easy Money & Greasy Grace

Both easy money and greasy grace remove the consequences that are meant to shape us. In the economy, the Federal Reserve steps in to prevent institutions from hitting rock bottom. The pressure lifts, but the behavior that caused the crisis remains untouched. New debt simply covers old debt, and nothing changes except the size of the next collapse.

Free grace, aka greasy grace, functions the same way in the soul. When someone begins to feel the weight of their decisions, instead of being called to repentance and transformation, they are told that grace cancels everything—no urgency, no accountability, no real change. It may soothe for the moment, but it silences the conviction that could have saved their relationships, their integrity, and their soul. True grace transforms; greasy grace excuses.

When people believe that their actions carry no real consequences, they begin to live accordingly. Incentives shrink down into pure self-interest. Sin gets rebranded: first as “struggle,” then as “mistake,” and eventually as “normal.” This is moral inflation: the slow devaluation of honesty, responsibility, and character.

Both easy money and greasy grace strip away accountability and, in doing so, create fertile ground for corruption, irresponsibility, mistrust, and decay. They offer comfort without change and relief without growth—and the results eventually catch up to everyone.

Papering Over Bad Behavior

To “paper over” a problem is to cover it without repairing what is broken. Economically, this is exactly what happens when the Federal Reserve creates new debt to hide old debt. The numbers improve on paper, the crisis appears to fade, but the underlying weakness remains untouched—and grows. The business stays alive, but only in the sense that a bandage keeps a wound hidden while infection spreads underneath.

Greasy grace works the same way in the moral realm. Instead of calling people to repentance, holiness, and transformation, it offers a blanket assurance that everything is already fine. It doesn’t confront the sin that is poisoning relationships, conscience, and character. It simply papers over it.

True grace heals while cheap grace hides. When repentance is replaced with reassurance, sin doesn’t go away, it grows. A papered-over problem is not a solved problem. It is a growing one.

Removing Consequences Leads to Immaturity

When consequences are continually removed, maturity cannot develop. In both economics and morality, growth depends on a real feedback loop between cause and effect. When that loop is interrupted through constant intervention, people are protected from the consequences of failure—but they are also protected from learning.

In the economic realm, easy money prevents businesses and institutions from experiencing the full weight of poor decisions. Instead of correcting strategy or changing behavior, failing structures are propped up with synthetic support. The system survives, but wisdom does not grow. Reality is delayed, not defeated.

To paraphrase Ayn Rand, “You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.”

The same pattern appears in personal and spiritual life. When people are shielded from the consequences of dishonesty, infidelity, or irresponsibility, they are denied the opportunity to change. Like a child whose parents always excuse bad behavior or shift the blame, they never learn ownership, restraint, or discipline. Immaturity becomes normalized.

Scripture presents a different standard. A righteous man “swears even to his own injury.” This is what maturity looks like: choosing truth and obedience even when it costs something. Grace does not eliminate consequences; it empowers us to face them honestly and grow through them.

And when immaturity goes unchecked long enough, it doesn’t remain an individual problem. It begins to shape the culture itself.

Protection from Predators

When accountability weakens, predatory behavior rises. This is not a moral theory; it is an observable pattern. Wherever consequences are absent or inconsistently applied, the aggressive and self-serving gain ground, while the honest and trusting become vulnerable.

Rules alone are not enough. Enforcement matters. In environments where violations go unchecked, restraint is interpreted as weakness and integrity as foolishness. Those willing to overstep boundaries discover that nothing happens when they do, and so they continue. Over time, others adapt. Trust erodes. People become defensive, suspicious, and eventually willing to mirror the very behavior they once opposed simply to survive.

This dynamic can be seen clearly in places where law enforcement no longer operates. In many Brazil, for example, there are the infamous favelas. Police presence is minimal or nonexistent. The absence of accountability does not create freedom; it creates domination. I have been warned more times than I can count to always stay away from them.

Power shifts to those willing to use force, intimidation, or manipulation. Communities are governed not by justice, but by fear and informal codes that favor the strong. The environment adapts downward.

The same thing happens spiritually and morally when accountability is removed under the banner of grace. When sin carries no eternal consequence, the worst impulses are rewarded. Those with ambition but no restraint begin to shape the culture. Mistrust spreads. Conflict multiplies. What began as “compassion” quietly mutates into corruption.

Accountability does not create oppression. It creates protection. And without it, environments do not remain neutral—they inevitably tilt toward predation.

 To quote one of my own songs:

Next week I will continue scrubbing the grease off grace with Part 2.