Out Our Way: You called, Lord? - Luke 5:32

Out our way, “Pride goeth before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18) is not mere Bible thumping but a reality every cowhand knows. Some can learn it from wise older hands and some of us have to learn it by hard knocks. I fear I have been in the latter category far too often. Somehow, riding at full gallop and thinking myself a tried and true cowboy has too often ended up with me tossed from the saddle and hitting hard ground. Yes, I can ride. Yes I have cowboyed for several years — but no, I am not a good rider nor an accomplished cowhand. Even with my pard Charlie encouraging me, I am mediocre at best. I loved being a cowhand and pushing cows, riding fence, and chasing strays, but discovered over the years I am not especially talented at it. But slowly, with encouragement from Charlie and patience from Doc, I slowly got a bit better.

 As we have shared together before, the word “sin” means to “miss the target”and the word repentance means “to be of a different mind,” or simply to correct our aim. When Christ says He is called to help sinners repent, He means to help us turn around when we are going the wrong way. That is not judgement. That is love.

Where is the love — or basic decency — if we remain silent when someone in Omaha wants to go to LA but heads east? If they will not listen when we tell them which way LA is from Omaha, that is on them. But if I, knowing LA is in the west and not the east, remaining silent as they head the wrong way, that is on me. So says the Lord.

Christ came for sinners — i.e. folks heading the wrong way — and called for repentance — discovering their error and correcting it. In short, Christ came for the morons and imbeciles like me who can’t tell east from west, north from south. He said He “came not for the righteous but for sinners.” But who among us is righteous? Who among us really has it all mapped out and needs no help? Well, not me, at any rate. I definitely need directions, and if I discover I have been going the wrong way, it is not judgmental to share that with others who may also need to turn around. It is an act of love.

Again, some will reject that and even be insulted by it. There are those who believe going downhill will lead them to the summit of the mountain. I have no idea how to reason with those who believe going backward is progress, that going down is going up, and that moving in the wrong direction, regardless of the gas mileage is a good thing. Given how stubborn and blind I have been, I understand the mind set. “There are none so blind as they who will not see” — and folks, I have been blind for a long time. Even now I need pretty strong glasses to correct my myopia. All I can say is that I have finally come to understand I am not seeing too clearly and be willing to have my eyes checked. At last I have come to see I need “glasses.”

I confess I have had some hard knocks designed to “wake me up” — and it took more than a few. Doc had to throw me more than once to understand I did not have a good seat and that he had a terrible right lead. I had to admit my need to work on both before any real progress was made. Being so arrogant and proud as to ignore the reality didn’t help either of us correct the problem(s), and so God allowed me to get tossed on a semi-regular basis until I got the message. The falls were necessary to remove the blindness of pride.

Christ allows us to fall time and again — not as a punishment, but as a wakeup call that helps us open the eyes and see the truth. He did not come for the “righteous” but for folks like me. How many times has He had to let me get tossed and stomped in life before I finally began to realize that fact?

If sin is “missing the target” and repentance “is correcting our aim,” if it is a matter of going the wrong way and being shown the right way, then thank God for never giving up on us even if it was painful. Sometimes love hurts — but is still love.

Be blessed, beloved.

Brother John Bruington