Perspective Shift
Look at the center cap on the wheel of a Nissan 300ZX, and you’ll notice a big “N,” for Nissan. That’s pretty cool, until you tilt your head a bit and see that it’s actually a big “Z,” for Z-car, and has been a feature throughout generations of Nissan Z-cars. If you’ve had it wrong this whole time, no worries. It’s never too late to change your perspective.
Speaking of perspectives, Nissan offered a 300ZX in multiple flavors to fit every discerning buyer’s perspective on what a car should be. There are multiple perspectives on the 300ZX variant that best honors the Z name: a twin-turbocharged two-seat coupe with a manual transmission and glass t-tops, or an all-motor 2+2 with an automatic and a solid roof. Or even a full convertible with a weird structural brace.
So if someone crashed a 300ZX that wasn’t there, should they have to pay for it? Well, it probably depends on your perspective; if your 300ZX was crashed, your answer may be different than if you’re the one who did the crashing.
Jesus knew we wouldn’t understand forgiving until we knew how badly we needed forgiveness. So he offered the poignant and realistic Parable and the Unmerciful Servant, recorded in Matthew 18. A servant owes his king 1,000 talents, which, in today’s dollars, is Bugatti money. The king graciously cancels his debt, and the servant is ecstatic. Then he meets a buddy who owes him the cash equivalent of a gallon of gas, and he freaks out and has him thrown into debtors’ prison.
When you focus on an offense someone committed against you, yes, it can seem like there’s too much forgiveness going around. That is one perspective people can have, and it’s easy to see why: it fits with their overall perspective of things. They think a person needs to suffer a bit before being forgiven, just to make sure they learn their lesson. Or that person needs to offer an apology first, because that’s the order that’s prescribed in the Bible (spoiler alert: it’s not). Maybe some sins shouldn’t be forgiven. Maybe they should wait to forgive the person because “I just don’t feel it in my heart yet.” Sure, and that “Z” center cap sure does look like an “N.” It really does.
Time for a perspective shift.
Some say that the line in the Lord’s Prayer about forgiveness is indeed conditional: “Forgive us our debts [in the same manner as which] we forgive our debtors.” The pastor and theologian R. T. Kendall is one such person. In his book, “Total Forgiveness,” a person ought to forgive someone as deeply and as quickly as possible, and if they don’t, or can’t, something is awry in their understanding of their severe need for God’s forgiveness. At the street level, forgiveness doesn’t mean being immediate best friends again, or not taking steps to keep a sin from happening again, if appropriate. All of that comes after forgiveness has been offered. Because forgiveness is a heart thing. It’s a perspective shift.
After renowned reformer Martin Luther amassed a great following, started a movement, and had his grace-focused Biblical understanding printed and distributed throughout Germany and Europe, he died, and a scrap of paper was found in his pocket with these hand-written words: “We are all beggars, all of us.” He never lost the perspective that we all need forgiveness, and ought to let it flow freely to our brothers and sisters.
Like the different views on what a Nissan 300ZX should be, everyone has a different perspective on who Jesus should be. If you’re at all concerned with aligning your perspective with the Bible, know that Jesus is serious about his followers forgiving each other, and serious about the complete, total, and eternal forgiveness he earned for us.
