I was dropped for making too many mistakes.
The letter begins by politely telling me that my
record has been under review.
We have secured Motor Vehicle Records which indicate a
speed violation by Max Lucado in December and January and a not-at-fault
accident by Dennlyn Lucado in December. Additional records indicate additional
speed violations by Mr. Lucado in April and by Mrs. Lucado in December of the
next year.
Now, I'm the first to admit that Denalyn and I tend to
get a bit heavy-footed and careless. In fact, that is the reason we have
insurance. Aren't the blemishes on my record an indication that I am a worthy
client? Wasn't the whole insurance business invented for people like me? Don't
my fender-benders and bumps put food or. Some adjuster's table? If not for my
blunders, what would the actuaries actuate?
My initial thought was that the company was writing to
congratulate me on being a good customer. Maybe they're writing to invite me to
a banquet or to tell me I've won an award, I thought.
The letter continued, documenting other secrets of our
past:
Our records indicate that on November 18 we paid to
fix damage to another vehicle when Max Lucado backed into another car in a
parking lot.
The twofold appearance of the word another alarmed me.
"Another" vehicle. "Another" car. Somebody is counting! Perhaps I need to urge
them to read I Corinthians 13:5, "Love ... keeps no record of wrongs" (mV). The
letter continued with another set of "anothers".
In April we paid to fix another vehicle when Denalyn
Lucado hit the rear of another car at a stop sign.
"But she was giving the baby a bottle!" I said in her
defense to no one listening. Denalyn was at a stoplight. Sara dropped her bottle
in the floorboard and was crying, so Denalyn leaned over and picked it up and
bumped the car ahead of her. Honest mistake. Could have happened to anyone.
And that time I backed into another car? I reported
it! I was the one who walked into the building, found the owner, and told him -
what I had done. Confessed my fault. I did my part. I could have backed into the
car and driven off, which, to be honest, I did consider but didn't do. Should I
also share with them I John 1:9? "If we e confess our sins, he will forgive our
sins..."
Don't I get some credit for being honest? Apparently
not. Read the conclusion of the letter.
In view of the above information, we are not willing
to reinstate your automobile insurance policy. The policy will terminate at
12:01 A.M. Standard Time January 4. I'm sorry our reply could not have been more
favorable. For your protection, you are urged to obtain other insurance to
prevent any lapse in coverage.
Wait a minute. Let me see if I get this right. I
bought insurance to cover my mistakes. But then I get dropped for making
mistakes. Hello. Did I miss something? Did I fail to see a footnote? Did I skip
some fine print in the contract?
Did I overlook a paragraph that read, "We, the
aforesaid company will consider one Max Lucado insurable until he shows himself
to be one who needs insurance upon which time his coverage ceases"?
Isn't that like a doctor treating healthy patients
only? Or a dentist hanging a sign in the window, "No cavities, please"? Or a
teacher penalizing you for asking too many questions? Isn't that like qualifying
for a loan by proving you don't need one? What if the fire department said it
would protect you until you had a fire? What if a bodyguard said he'd protect
you unless someone was after you? Or a lifeguard said she'd watch over you
unless you started to drown?
Or what if, perish the thought, heaven had limitations
to its coverage? What if you got a letter from the Pearly Gate Underwriting
Division that read:
Dear Mrs. Smith,
I'm writing in response to this morning's request for
forgiveness. I'm sorry to inform you that you have reached your quota of sins.
Our records show that, since employing our services, you have erred seven times
in the area of greed, and your prayer life is substandard when compared to
others of age and circumstance.
Further review reveals that your understanding of
doctrine is in the lower 20 percentile and you have excessive tendencies to
gossip. Because of your sins you are a high-risk candidate for heaven. You
understand that grace has its limits. Jesus sends his regrets and kindest
regards and hopes that you will find some other form of coverage.
Many fear receiving such a letter. Some worry they
already have If an insurance company can't cover my honest mistakes, can I
expect God to cover my intentional rebellion?
Paul answers the question with what John Stott calls
"the most startling statement in Romans."' God "makes even evil people right in
his sight" (Rom. 4:5). What an incredible claim! It's one thing to make good
people right, but those who are evil? We can expect God to justify the decent,
but the dirty? Surely coverage is provided for the driver with the clean record,
but the speeder? The ticketed? The high-risk client? How in the world can
justification come for the evil?...
How does God make us right with him? Let's return to
the insurance company and ask a few questions: First, was it unjust in
dismissing me as a client? No. I may find its decision distasteful, unenjoyable,
even disheartening, but I cannot call it unfair. It only did what it said it
would do.
So did our Father. He told Adam, "If you ever eat
fruit from that tree, you will die" (Gen. 2:17). No fine print. No hidden
agenda. No loophole or technicality. God has not played games with us. He has
been fair. Since Eden, the wages of sin have been death (Rom. 6:23).
Just as reckless driving has its consequences, so does
reckless living. Just as I have no defense before the insurance company, I have
no defense before God. My record accuses me. My past convicts me.
Now, suppose the founder and CEO of the insurance
company chose to have mercy upon me. Suppose, for some reason, he wanted to keep
me as a client. What can he do? Can't he just close his eyes and pretend I made
no mistakes? Why doesn't he take my driving record and tear it up? Two reasons.
First, the integrity of the company would be
compromised. He would have to relax the standards of the organization, something
he could not and should not do. The ideals of the organization are too valuable
to be abandoned. The company cannot abandon its precepts and still maintain
integrity.
Second, the mistakes of the driver would be
encouraged. If there is no price for my mistakes, why should I drive carefully?
If the president will dismiss my errors, then what's to keep me from driving
however I want? If he is willing to ignore any blunders, then blunder on!
Is that the aim of the president? Is that the goal of
his mercy? Lowered standards and poor driving? No. The president is faced with
this dilemma. How can I be merciful and fair at the same time? How can I offer
grace without endorsing mistakes?
Or, put in biblical terms, how can God punish the sin
and love the sinner? Paul has made it clear, "The wrath of God is being revealed
from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness" (Rom. 1:18 NIV). Is God
going to lower his standard so we can be forgiven? Is God going to look away and
pretend I've never sinned? Would we want a God who altered the rules and made
exceptions? No. We want a God who "does not change like ... shifting shadows"
(James 1:17) and who "judges all people in the same way" (Rom. 2:11).
Besides, to ignore my sin is to endorse my sin. If my
sin has no price, then sin on! If my sin brings no pain, then sin on! In fact,
"We should do evil so that good will come" (Rom. 3:8). Is this the aim of God?
To compromise his holiness and enable our evil?
Of course not. Then what is he to do? How can he be
just and love the sinner? How can he be loving and punish the sin? How can he
satisfy his standard and forgive my mistakes? Is there any way God could honor
the integrity of heaven without turning his back on me?
Holiness demands that sin be punished. Mercy compels
that the sinner be loved. How can God do both? May I answer the question by
returning to the insurance executive? Imagine him inviting me to his office and
saying these words.
"Mr. Lucado, I have found a way to deal with your
mistakes. I can't overlook them; to do so would be unjust. I can't pretend you
didn't commit them; to do so would be a lie. But here is what I can do. In our
records we have found a person with a spotless past. He has never broken a law.
Not one violation, not one trespass, not even a parking ticket. He has
volunteered to trade records with you. We will take your name and put it on his
record. We will take his name and put it on yours. We will punish him for what
you did. You, who did wrong, will be made right. He, who did right, will be made
wrong."
My response? "You've got to be kidding! Who would do
this for me? Who is this person?"
To which the president answers, "Me."
If you're waiting for an insurance executive to say
that, don't hold your breath. He won't. He can't. Even if he wanted to he
couldn't. He has no perfect record.
But if you're wanting God to say those words, you can
sigh with relief. He has. He can. For "God was in Christ, making peace between
the world and himself.... Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that
in Christ we could become right with God" (2 Cor. 5:19, 21).
The perfect record of Jesus was given to you, and your
imperfect record was given to Christ. Jesus was "not guilty, but he suffered for
those who are guilty to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18). As a result, God's
holiness is honored and his children are forgiven.
By his perfect life Jesus fulfilled the commands of
the law. By his death he satisfied the demands of sin. Jesus suffered not like a
sinner, but as a sinner. Why else would he cry, "My GOD, my GOD, why have You
forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46 NKJV).
Ponder the achievement of God. He doesn't condone our
sin; nor does he compromise his standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion; nor
does he relax his demands. Rather than dismiss our sin he assumes our sin and,
incredibly, sentences himself. God's holiness is honored. Our sin is punished.
And we are redeemed. God is still God. The wages of sin is still death. And we
are made perfect.
That's right, perfect. "With one sacrifice he made
perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Heb. 10:14).
God justifies (makes perfect) then sanctifies (makes
holy). God does what we cannot do so we can be what we dare not dream, perfect
before God. He justly justifies the unjust.
And what did he do with your poor driving record? "He
canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away
that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross" (Col. 2:14 ).
And what should be your response? Let's go one more
time to the insurance company. I return to my agent and ask him to call up my
file. He does and stares at the computer screen in disbelief. "Mr. Lucado, you
have a perfect past. Your performance is spotless."
My response? If I'm dishonest and ungrateful, I will
deepen my voice and cross my arms and say, "You are right. It's not easy to be
great."
If I'm honest and grateful, I will simply smile and
say, "I don't deserve that compliment. In fact, I don't deserve that record. It
was and is an unspeakable gift of grace."
By the way, I have a new automobile-insurance company.
They charge me a little more since I've been bumped from a competitor. And who
knows? I may get a few more letters before it's all over.
My eternal soul is under heavenly coverage, and Jesus
isn't known for dismissing clients. He is known, however, for paying premiums
and I'm paid up for life. I'm in good hands with him.
In the Grip of Grace
copyright [Word Publishing, 1996] Max Lucado, p.
67-70, 72-76.
Used by permission
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