Ok…just a quick pet peeve of mine. Don’t we all make mistakes? I mean, is this something new that people aren’t perfect? From my recollection and deep, intense study, there was only One who was/is perfect and it is Him that those of us who call ourselves Christians follow…so why is it so hard to sometimes admit to mistakes?
I’m thinking of the teacher who makes an error on grading a test, but is bent on being right and although there is documented proof that they are wrong, the heels dig in and they fight to the death. Or the leader who misspeaks, misappropriates or misunderstands and dies on the hill of trying to be right. I believe it was Robert Kennedy who said “Hang a lantern on your problems.” The idea behind that is if you make a mistake, admit it, deal with it and move on. Trying to disprove the obvious will become difficult after awhile.
I think teachers struggle with this because they feel (unnecessarily so) that they have to be perfect for the sake of their students. “The teacher is always right,” I remember being told as a child. But in reality, I think students, members of a church and followers in general find something comfortable in knowing their teacher, pastor or supervisor is human as well. I know I feel better about my golf game when I see Tiger Woods put a ball in the water (a rare occasion as of late). We may learn from mistakes, but we grow based on how we handle them.
Authenticity doesn’t look for perfection..it looks for real people doing real things and may times, imperfectly.
