Only A Little Off

On Crooked Cars and Subtle Shifts

---

I pulled into the convenience store parking lot, and immediately noticed something seemed off. I found it odd that the car parked beside the last space had ended up far outside the lines blocking the one remaining spot. I circled and parked near the gas pumps to go inside. Walking toward the entrance, I could see what had happened.

One car, presumably the first, had parked at an angle that not only took up its single space but slightly blocked the two on either side. That one car had not taken only a single space but parts of three. Since the neighboring spots were only partially blocked, other drivers had attempted to squeeze their SUVs into them, but ended up partially blocking the next set of adjoining spaces. This misaligned pattern had repeated until the parking area was “full” but holding fewer cars than intended. One person’s error, likely unnoticed at first, upset the whole.

While I chuckled at the situation, it also made me think about how we tend to justify our own mistakes. When our errors are called out, we often respond with, “Well, it was only a small thing,” or “I can see your point, but I was only a little off in what I said.”

A friend might point out that our words had been unkind, and instead of examining ourselves, we become defensive. A coworker might observe we left information off a report, and rather than simply owning our mistake and correcting it, we question why we even have to do those reports at all. At times in my life of preaching and writing, I have said things that were either mistakes (such as citing a Scripture reference incorrectly) or unclear (I have unintentionally made a simple fact too complex or overly simplified a complex issue). I know also I have not always responded well to correction or criticism when people made me aware of my errors.

We have a tendency to justify ourselves and those we love while we tend to be critical and judgmental toward strangers or those we perceive as different. Our desire to justify self and an inability to take correction with humility often lead us to anger and argument. Rather than shifting directly into battle mode, we must pause and choose to breathe, reflect, and admit our mistake. If we are willing to do the uncomfortable work of examining ourselves, we can often catch an issue quickly and resolve it with minimal damage.

When a scholar wanted to test Jesus, he questioned the Lord as to God’s most important commands. Jesus turned the question back on the man, and he rightly answered to love God and to love neighbor. Jesus commends his answer, but the man asks a follow up: who then is my neighbor?

In response, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, but Luke 10:29 reveals the motive of this man: to justify himself. He wasn’t seeking a better way of living or a fresh approach to faithfulness; he was seeking confirmation of his current values and actions. He seems to be seeking to limit rather than expand God’s command to extend love and compassion to others.

Whenever we encounter truth, it may be revealed that we need to change; not simply to continue what we already believe and practice. We must avoid an attitude of defensive pride and instead see correction as a valuable tool on the path to growth.

An uncorrected flaw in character is like that one skewed car. It might not seem all that important and I may think I am fine as I am, but my fault will eventually impact others. My misstep may seem only a little off at first, but even a little difference left uncorrected over time ultimately makes a big difference. As long as I am focused more on justifying my own actions than on correcting my mistake, the situation cannot be straightened out.

Each day, may we live attentively, accept needed correction with grace, and realize our actions always impact others.

---