Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

PASTOR'S PENS 2008

“Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it's addressed to someone else.”   Ivern Ball                 If we’re late for work, we can blame the traffic. If our kids have problems at school, we can blame the teacher. If you’re pulled over for speeding, you can tell the officer that it’s not your fault because there are just not enough speed limit signs out there. If you lose your temper, you can always say that you’re having a bad day, or you have a headache, or even that you’re hormonal. It’s just so easy to point the blame at someone else or something else.                 The definition of blame is to hold another person responsible for perceived faults, whether those faults are real, imagined, or merely invented. Take the I-35 Bridge that collapsed in Minnesota last year. One theory blamed it on pigeon feces. They said that the acid in the feces caused the metal on the bridge to rust more quickly. Probably, the most ridiculous blame game was when Roy Pearson, a judge in Washington D.C. took his dry cleaners to court over a lost pair of pants. What was a $10 cleaning bill somehow escalated into $67 million. Judge Pearson said that he had been through turmoil over the pants and wanted to wear them on his first day on the bench. The dry cleaners were immigrants and eventually won the case but ended up owing $100,000 in legal fees...talk about Land of the Free. The sad fact is that Judge Pearson knew the legal system and was looking for someone to blame for his unhappiness. That’s the culture in which we live. It’s a “not my fault world.”                 In our blame game world, it’s so refreshing when someone takes personal responsibility for their sins, failures or mistakes. Yet, that’s an essential part of a healthy Christian life and a vital aspect of good character and responsibility – owning up to your own mistakes and transgressions. Happily, there are real-world examples of this kind of responsibility in, of all places, the race track.                 If you’re a NASCAR fan, then you know that earlier this year NASCAR ordered one team to reduce the horsepower generated by its engines in an attempt to make races more competitive. This team had already won more than half of the races this season. Compliance with the order was determined by what is known as a "chassis dynamometer" test—or "dyno test" for short.                 But in the highly competitive world of auto racing, where money, prestige, and pride are always on the line, such an order just doesn’t sit well. Mechanics and technicians who have spent countless hours perfecting their cars resent attempts to level the playing field. They might even put a kind of moral spin on the issue: It’s “unfair," maybe even "un-American," to "punish" excellence in this way. So it wasn’t a big surprise when someone tried to disobey the order while appearing to be in compliance by fooling the dynamometer. During “chassis dyno” tests after the race in Michigan a few weeks ago, the NASCAR inspectors found that the team's mechanics had rigged the cars to appear as if they were in compliance when they were not. In other words, they cheated. But while the cheating is not surprising, the name of the team is: Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s surprising because Joe Gibbs is an outspoken Christian. Joe Gibbs has reputation for being a man of character and integrity. And because he’s a man of character, what happened after his team was caught disobeying the rules was also not a big surprise. While neither Joe Gibbs nor his son J. D. had any clue as to what their employees were doing, they took "total responsibility" for their employees' actions. Joe said that the incident "goes against everything we stand for as an organization." He added that "we will take full responsibility and accept any penalties NASCAR levies against us."                 How refreshing! No evasion, no excuses, no spin. It stands in marked contrast to the evasions and "damage control" we hear and read about all the time. People caught breaking the law or behaving badly blame everything from dyslexia, their disadvantaged upbringing, and even acid reflux for their failings. When they do acknowledge fault, they seek to mitigate their responsibility by citing "extenuating" circumstances—or, as we see with politicians, regularly they call sin just a "mistake.” But it’s not just celebrities and politicians. Americans talk about responsibility, but we are all-too-eager to pass the blame along, especially if there is punishment involved. Sadly, even Christians are too eager to sometimes pass the buck.                 So this afternoon when you’re racing around the countryside, participating in our Road Rally, remember what Joe Gibbs did. Here was a man who was willing to take his punishment without qualifiers. Joe not only did the right thing, he set a real-world example for the rest of us to emulate.                 I’m so thankful for believers like Joe Gibbs who demonstrate that while believers are not perfect, they’re mature enough to take responsibility for their actions. May his tribe increase! And may his Christian witness be an example to all of us in the Church!