 |
Bertram is
Trapped
All's Well that Ends Well |
“That’s
what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your
brothers and sisters from your heart” (Matthew 18:35 NLT). For
parable underpinning this verse see Matthew 18:23-34. (Click here)
How
can we forgive, yet not encourage irresponsibility? (Serendipity
Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page 1367).
Today
I received the highest compliment I’ve ever received. Amy (my
co-worker for about 9 years) was printing out past due notices from
the accounting system that handles all charges for the City’s
recreation programs. She archly asked me wouldn’t I like to have
her job sending out such notices. I replied, “Not at
Christmastime—I wouldn’t want to be a Grinch.” Joe (sitting
nearby) said ‘We should make Wayne manager of all Collections.”
Whereupon Amy emphatically ejaculated , “Wayne is the LAST person
you would want in charge of collections!” I replied, “Amy that
was the highest compliment I’ve ever received.”…..and I meant
it.
Why
did her comment please me so? Because it’s proof that others
perceive I have a forgiving heart. My natural inclination regarding
a past due account would be something like this: “Well I know they
had good intentions and fully intended to pay unless hit by hell or
high-water—and hell AND high-water are precisely what hit them from
the side. I know they will pay eventually. Let’s give them some
more time. They really needed to have their children in our program.”
In short, when I consider the big picture I give everyone a FICO
score of 850. (And everyone knows today without a good credit score
you might as well be dead.)
But
the Serendipity Bible question for today asks an important question,
“How can we forgive, yet not encourage irresponsibility?” Well,
as for the past due account, we might ask for a partial payment
schedule. But of course this question exceeds money matters.
Forgiveness
cannot be the foolish addiction of silly wimps. God asks that we have a
repentant heart—and something of this quality is important in human
affairs as well. Certainly a jury of one’s peers can be greatly
influenced by an obviously genuine expression of repentance.
Repentance means that one has a deep appreciation for the extent of
the infraction and the awesome seriousness of trust violations.
Trust
defined: Have confidence or faith in; "We can trust in God"
(WordWeb Pro).
assured
reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or
something: one in which confidence is placed (Merriam-Webster).
When
we place trust in others, and when that trust in unwarranted, we as
trust givers are indicted as well as the perpetrator. Our judgment,
even our character, can be called into question. Thus, when I
violate a trust, there is not only an immediate failure to perform;
there is an active assault upon the character of another. There is a
sense in which betrayal of trust rises to the level of criminality
unless redeemed by palpable and unavoidable impinging contingencies.
Yet,
even so, as for me personally, I will typically risk getting burned.
But once burned, I will insist on genuine repentance. Which concept,
by the way, was the lynchpin for my idiosyncratic reading of
Shakespeare’s All’s Well that End’s Well.
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