Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday March 1, 2007

I grew up not far from the Amish Country of Lancaster County, PA. To the South was the grandeur of the Chesapeake Bay. Near heaven. I don't miss it all that much due to being where the Lord wants me and Indiana has some pluses, such as railroads so intimidating that John Dillinger is said to have avoided robbing any banks here in Terre Haute for fear of getting railroaded. I doubt that many Amishmen have seen the rare natural beauty of Honey Creek Square or even the ghostly glow of the Federal Death Row lit up at night. Talk about romantic. As you can see life balances out.

The noted philosopher now widowed, Sophia Loren, commented on the things of life when she uttered, actually Sophie doesn't utter, it's more a 'breathing out' of words. A suggestive breathing out that I will not go into on this page. Sophia said:

"Mistakes are part of the dues you pay for a full life."

Dale Carnegie said, "Most men die at thirty five and are buried at sixty eight." Tragic, but true. As we age we tend to lose the courage to risk the ridicule that comes with making a mistake, of failing at some thing, failing to take into account that those who ridicule the person who makes a mistake are living in a safe rut, which has been aptly described as a grave with the ends kicked out.

I know of only ONE who lived a full life on earth sans mistakes. You must keep in mind that although He is the Son of God, declared to be such by the power of His resurrection from the dead, He was deemed a failure by the bulk of humanity at the time of His life and death. Often what appears to be a mistake is actually simply the Lord working in a different way in our life. The family and peers of David Livingstone considered his choice to take the gospel to the Dark Continent of Africa a terrible mistake and huge waste of talent. His brother decided to make a name for himself in the political field and for years reference books gave his name and then, "The brother of David." Such is life.

Failures that can be laid at the feet of methods are common as we follow Christ, for He uses method mistakes as teaching tools. When we make such mistakes, we learn from them, endure the snide remarks of those on the sidelines and say, "I will get it right next time." I learned this when I played football, baseball etc along the way. I wanted to catch every ball, make every tackle. I missed more than I like to remember. My Pony League coach, Buck Barnett taught me to say, "Okay, Larry you missed, I will get the next one." In ball and in life when mistakes are made, the next one becomes the important one.

Our society, even some in the clergy, are causing grave harm by mixing method mistakes with moral sins. The two are different in mind set, in action and results. They do have similar ways of being dealt with, though there is one major exception. When a moral sin, a moral lapse takes place it must be acknowledged that a conscious choice was made to miss the mark, I decided to go against the Lord's revealed will and the Holy Spirit's convicting will and do this thing. Then trust the forgiveness and trusting of Jesus to help you to avoid this sin in the future. At this point the measures of avoiding mistakes and sin become similar. Set your mind on doing it right, through a proper approach, sticking to the book as to technique, and seeing success as you set out to catch the ball, tackle the man, or hit a home run for Jesus on the moral field by following the example of Joseph. A big order to be sure, but much better than pushing off moral failure as a mistake.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2007 Use with credit.

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