Ed Hertfelder wrote long ago about having the
shift linkage freeze up in his van. Remember those old vans, we carried our
dirt bikes, slept in them, dated in them if you could find a girl who could
handle the smell of racing fuel, and most were basic, three on the tree tied to
a six cylinder. Or as he described it, three on the tree and one in the grill.
Basic and cheap, they were ours. But when the linkage would bind up, he had to
climb out, reach into the grill, and shake it lose himself. After numerous cuts
from the sharp edges on the grill, he dropped it by a friend’s shop and told him
the problem, showing him his cut arm. Later when he got the call to pick it up,
it was fixed, he drove away happily until the linkage bound up again. Cussing
his friend, he called him up, “I thought you had fixed it?” To which came the
reply, “I put duct tape over the sharp edge so you won’t cut you arm anymore.”
I had a friend who could jury rig anything, or
so he thought. He complained of his trans not shifting right, and how the gear
indicator didn’t match up with what gear he was in. His solution was to put a
piece of tape over the indicator, moving the numbers to match what gear he was
in. Which worked for awhile, until his car quit shifting altogether, and
wouldn’t go into any gear. When taken to someone who knew what to do, he found
the shifter bushings worn, and so the indicator would not line up with, could
not line up with what gear it was in. A simple fix, he had tried to remedy a
symptom, and had not fixed the problem. And like Ed’s van, the symptom was not
the solution.
Jesus’ words from the cross can be applied here,
“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” We so often refer to this
as the one who sins is not aware of his problem, but it can also be applied as a
warning to seeking help from those who know not what they do. From time to time
I am called after someone has gotten in over their head from taking advice that
sounded good, but only made things worse. Well meaning advice, maybe even tied
into scripture in a perverse way, and the problem got worse, and sometimes the
symptom went away. Like I’m supposed to know what to do. Like both the
shifting problems above, what was not seen was the problem, it was an internal
or unseen problem, yet both so called solutions dealt with the physical only.
What was seen and what was felt. So many times our problems are spiritual in
nature, but are revealed physically, so we only deal with what is seen. And end
up on the side of the road.
Good advice, godly advice only works if
applied. To may of our problems, the answer is not simple or easy. It takes a
tough decision, then a tough fix to repair the damage, in today’s replaceable
society we throw it out and replace it with another, new and improved. The
deeper the sin, the worse the problem, the more the cost to fix it. Where Jesus
again warns how the man who builds his house without concern for counting the
costs ends up surprised and in trouble. Yes, some solutions are simple, just
say no, some require blood, sweat, and tears. To Christians Jesus has already
supplied the blood, the sweat, and the tears to overcome sin, we fail to see the
price he paid. So change is slow, and less meaningful. “Jesus paid it all,”
the song says, but we are the change back from what he has purchased. We are
the change the world is supposed to see when we are saved. While some get hung
up on John 3:16, John in 1 John 3:16 sneaks in another bit for us. “This
is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our
brothers and sisters.” We need to go beyond the obvious and deal with the
problem, not the symptom. The simplicity of salvation and redemption is made
difficult when it should be easy. So when seeking advice, God has given us his
spirit to guide, then his word to back up what he has told us. Seek him first,
then all things will be added. How often do we apply a scripture to a problem,
or reword it to excuse our sin? With the problem getting worse. And additional
lessons learned about forgiveness.
When
God sends the fix, it will always be the right one, even if it seems wrong, or
difficult. Beware of easy solutions that don’t seem right, they mask the real
solution, which may not be God’s. Just because it sounds right doesn’t make it
right. It’s possible you didn’t know the real problem in the first place! When
giving godly advice, do you really know what you are doing? Or just repeating
something you heard somewhere?
So
much of life is we know not what we do. Every time I learn something, I realize
how much I don’t know. And how much more I need the spirit to guide. How much
more do I know? My aorta before it exploded was diagnosed as a pinched nerve in
my back. My family doctor went by what I told him, he didn’t get inside to
where the real problem was that required surgery and a miracle from God. Which
is why doctor’s still practice, while Jesus gets it right. From shifting gears
to back pains to changing the symbols to meet the situation, we need Jesus.
More than ever. When we finally come to the point of laying down our lives for
another, then the gospel is alive in us and will bear fruit. When Jesus is the
answer, it doesn’t matter what the question is. Jesus is the answer. Or you
can have someone supply the duct tape....
So
you think you know what you are doing? Be prepared for a test today to show you
don’t. And if you come across someone who has all the answers, remember he
probably hasn’t heard all the questions! Some problems cannot be fixed with
duct tape....
love
with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com