My Error

In addition to posting to this blog I also send these post in an email newsletter.  In my last email newsletter I had a typo in the header.  It read, "I don't believe that Jesus’ last miracle was healing someone who planned to be His enemy."  It should have read, "I don't believe it was an accident that Jesus' last miracle was healing someone who planned to be His enemy."

The header line is something I don’t plan well; duh.  This one I typed in with my mind running a lot faster than my fingers and I made a mistake.  What I found interesting was my own reaction.  I have perfectionist tendencies, something that is very bad for a person like me who makes a lot of mistakes.  I reacted to finding this typo by ripping myself up one side and down the other.  I was furious with myself. Not only had I made a mistake, but I had denied one of the miracles.  I tried to send a follow up email or retraction and apology, but the email server limits me to only one a day.

After I calmed down a bit, I realized that I was living outside of grace.  I was acting as if my typo was something that would some how put my soul in danger.  I was acting as if only perfect performance was sufficient and my failure would be the end of me.  I made a mistake; it was unintentional, singular, and did not reflect my convictions.  I am not sure it was even a sin, but that is a discussion for another time.  But I reacted or over reacted in how I berated myself.

I don’t meant to make light of sin, but isn’t that the point of grace?  Grace is not having to be good enough.  Grace is only grace if it comes to the rescue of those who, by intent or by accident, fail.  Grace would not be grace if it were some how optional.  If I didn’t really need it, then it would not be grace.  And here is the point: I don’t need to excoriate myself for failures.  The gospel of the Old Testament says,

            But He was pierced for our transgressions,

                        He was crushed for our iniquities;

            The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.

                        And by His wounds we are healed.  Is. 53.5 NIV

In other words, I don’t need to be beaten up for my failures, either by myself or by someone else.  Someone has already taken the beating and punishment that all my failures, from typo to acts of open rebellion, truly deserve.  I will continue to dislike it when I make a mistake; I really don’t ever want to get too comfortable with failure.  But what I do with those failures needs to be shaped by a personal understanding and application of grace.

One of my professors was reported to have a sermon that he would preach from time to time called, “The Campaign Platform of the Gospel: Welfare, Rest and Free Love” taken from Romans 6.  The main points being: 

1.  Welfare, it is undeserved: Know what Christ has done for you on the Cross, v3

2.  Rest, in the finished work of Christ: You are dead to sin, but alive in Christ, v11

3.  Free love, our response to God: give yourself over to God, v13

Good theology always preaches and always has practical applications to life.  So, if you find errors in this treatise, know for certain that they aren’t there on purpose.  And while I will gladly make corrections, I know God loves me anyway.  That makes my failures, both the little typos and the acts of rebellion, easier to deal with.

On an unrelated subject, if you are going to the Catalyst Atlanta please let me know.  I would like to make an introduction for you at this year’s gathering.