HONESTLY APOLOGETIC

“Loser’s Limp” and Avoiding Apologies

21 07 2011

 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  Luke 15:21

“A stiff apology is a second insult… The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt.”  G.K. Chesterson

I have a pretty tough apology to make this week.  I will confess to you that I do not want to have to do it.  The more I think about it, the more my sinful mind begins thinking other thoughts…alternative thoughts…thoughts of deflecting the fault to someone else, or even of feigning my own “hurt” from the situation in an attempt to distract from my fault.  Do you ever have those kinds of conversations in your head?

My Dad called it “Loser’s Limp”.  I was about 10 years old.  I was the second-string quarterback of the Bellaire Panthers Pop Warner football team.  I was running plays with the second-string offense against our very formidable first-string defense.  I called a simple running play in the huddle, came to the line, called for the snap, and proceeded to turn the wrong direction to hand-off the ball.  It was a busted play and I got smeared all over the field by our entire defense.  I was the last to get up.  I was humiliated, and maybe just a little bit injured.  Maybe.  I did not want to face my coach, so I slowly but emphatically limped off the field, hoping everyone would forget my mistake and just feel sorry for me and my injury (which was growing worse and worse in my mind).  I got to the sidelines and met Dad’s gaze.  He was giving me the disappointed look (I didn’t get that look very often, but I still recognized it).  I protested the look and insisted that I was injured.  And that was the first time I can remember Dad using the term “Loser’s Limp”.  He saw right through my ploy, knew I was not really injured, and knew I was more humiliated than anything else.

The lesson Dad was teaching me was to own my mistakes…to be willing to confess them and learn from them.  He caught me trying to hide behind a fake injury, and he called me on it.  Lesson learned!

Picture the “lost son” in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal.  Wouldn’t it have been easy for him to come home with a bad case of “Loser’s Limp”?  Can’t you just see him limping home and gushing all over his father about the hardships he had been through and playing on his father’s sympathy?  How easy that would have been!  But he did not.  He came home and completely owned his mistake: “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you…I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”  No Loser’s Limp there.  It is a model confession and apology.

Let’s be honest here.  I do not enjoy confession and apologies any more than you do.  But my short-lived Loser’s Limp together with many years and a great deal of practice making mistakes has taught me that, in the long run, it is always easier to just own my failures and make my apologies than to do any of the “alternative” things my mind can conceive.  Believe me, my mind can get pretty creative when humiliation sets in and an apology is needed.  It can convince me that my own “injury” is just as serious as the one I caused.  It can keep me so focused on my own Loser’s Limp that my apology comes out stiff and lifeless, and ends up doing more harm than good.

I would like to think I have learned my lesson and can own my mistakes and can make my apologies.  So, here I go…I have a call to make.  FOLLOW CHURCH WHISPERER

© Blake Coffee

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WHERE ARE THE FISH BITING TODAY?

From Steve - I came across a blog called ALAN'S CORNER written by a NASA scientist and Christian. This post is an example.  It also reminds us that faith is never simple.

 by Alan Ward

I am by no means an authority on fishing; it’s not really a hobby of mine. I do know, however, that many factors go into determining where the fish will be biting today. The temperature of the water, the winds, the supply of nutrients, and other factors can all impact the fish. Fish tend to follow their food sources, so if you find what the fish eat in the water, then the fish are likely to follow. 

From my work at NASA, I know that today’s commercial fishing industry is becoming more and more rooted in science. It’s not uncommon for fishermen to consult weather maps, ocean topography charts, and other data from satellites and other sources to help them try to maximize their chances of bringing in a good catch. But at the end of the day there’s still an “art” to fishing. You can go where the data tells you to go and still find no fish…

The men that Jesus encountered along the shores of the Sea of Galilee did not have access to sophisticated technology to track schools of fish, but I am quite certain that fishing the same waters day after day, year after year, gave them an intuitive feel for when and where to cast their nets on a given day. When they put down their nets in a given place, it was because they thought they had a reasonable chance of catching something.

Imagine then how you might feel if a non-fisherman standing on the shore presumed to tell you where to drop your nets? Imagine further that it’s already been a long and unproductive night of fishing. You are tired and would just assume call it a day. Would you listen to the suggestion?

Well, in John 21:1-14 we’re told that these seasoned fishermen did listen to the advice of the “stranger”. They knew Jesus, but John tells us they didn’t recognize him at first—they couldn’t see him clearly from where they were. It’s only when they pull in the huge catch of fish it becomes clear to them who was standing there all along. Peter swims to shore (vintage Peter here!) leaving the others to haul the boat into shore. They all sit down to breakfast with Jesus and not one of them asks: “Who are you?” It’s as if what they witness that morning along the shores of Galilee removes any lingering doubts they may have had about whether Jesus is really alive. (These doubts are very apparent in the disciple’s previous encounters with Jesus in Jerusalem after the resurrection—e.g., Luke 24:36-43; John 20:24-29)

I find it interesting that the disciples obey Jesus’ commands to “cast your nets on the right side” before they actually recognize Jesus in the flesh. It says something about having faith in and placing our trust in what we cannot see. I often think it was easier for the first disciples to believe because Jesus was there with them in the flesh, and maybe it was, but this is a good reminder that faith is never simplistic.

Just as these men have an instinctive sense for where the fish are biting, they seem to instinctively recognize Jesus’ authority—he commands not only the fish but the fishermen as well. And after this encounter, these rugged fishermen from Galilee leave their boats on the shores of Galilee once and for all and follow the Risen Lord where he leads them. After Jesus ascends and the Holy Spirit descends these men are sent forth to drop their nets on other seas and their labors lead to a huge “catch” for the Kingdom of God—all because they were obedient to Jesus, and put down their nets on the right side of the boat.