A Broken Ford

I was reading an article on the blog "Out of Ur" which is the blog of the magazine Leadership. It is written by George McDonald, who is the editor-at-large of the magazine.

He compares himself to an old, broken Ford, a 1950 model, with over 100,000 miles, with an unreliable starter, that needed the radiator to be emptied and refilled each night.

He says:

Perhaps we are all like broken Fords who sometimes start and sometimes don’t, who may make it to an intended destination but, then again, maybe not. We’d like to appear as if we just came from the showroom. But the truth is that most of the time, we deserve to be towed to the junk yard.

Thinking like this helps me to appreciate the remarkable grace and kindness of the Savior, Jesus, who searched for and loved broken “Fords” (then and now) and enjoyed rebuilding them and increasing their reliability factor. And thinking like this helps me to look at others (and at myself) with the understanding that they—like me—sometimes have more characteristics befitting an old broken Ford than a brand new Outback.

When seeing things from that perspective, one can get excited when anybody (beginning with myself) actually starts up and gets where they are supposed to go. You could have a pretty fine church if everyone saw each other like this. That last statement intrigued me. How would our church be improved if we all saw each perhaps as broken Fords in need of grace

• If I am broken, and I realize it, then perhaps I am much more likely to forgive brokeness in other people. Maybe when other people sin, I will forgive them with less grumbling and more acceptance.
  
• If I know that I am broken, maybe I am more likely to forgive myself when I make a mistake.
  
• If I realize that God is offering me grace -- that he hopes to continue to change me froma broken Ford to a much more perfect "car," then perhaps I am more likely to accept grace, and much more likely to offer it to someone else.
  
• If I realize that what I look like on the outside isn't as important -- not nearly as important -- as what God is doing to my spirit, then perhaps I am more likely to overlook -- or maybe look past -- what someone else looks like.

If I am broken, and I know it, then I am much more likely to forgive others and to be more accepting of them. Indeed, we would have a much different church.

Image: Sky last night outside of church