Really Obvious Flaw
The Toyota MR-S Spyder was a fantastic little car with one big problem: it didn’t get the good engine. Toyta’s 2ZZ-GE, a high-revving 1.8-liter DOHC four-cylinder with variable valve timing, found its way into plenty of cars at the time, from the exotic (Lotus Elise and Exige) to the surprising (Matrix XR-S) to the appropriate (Celica GT-S) to the bizarre (Pontiac Vibe GT). Making around 100 horsepower per liter, the power-dense unit is venerated in the tuning community. But it was never offered in the MR-S. Instead, Toyota equipped it with the standard Corolla engine, the very closely related 1ZZ-FED. Compared to its dual-cam brother, the 1ZZ lacked about 40 horsepower as well as gobs of character.
The MR-S’s lack of 2ZZ is widely bemoaned among car folks. The MR-S: a feather-weight two-seat roadster with exceptional handling that could have had the soul of a hot hatch but instead had an engine with the personality of an economy car. It’s usually one of the first comments on any online article about the car. If you own an MR-S and take it to a car show, you may even have a prepared statement about the topic.
You may not own an MR-S, but maybe you know the feeling of walking into a room and wondering if everyone knows your biggest mistake, flaw, or failure. Maybe it was something you did or said or didn’t do or say. Maybe you’re too much of something or not enough of something else. Or you have a reputation that’s mostly untrue, but there’s a truth in there that really stings and makes you wonder if the people are right when they talk about all that’s wrong with you. And you feel the need to have a prepared statement defending yourself or at least trying to explain where you’re coming from.
At least one person in the bible felt they screwed up so badly that they needed a prepared statement before they faced the person they had harmed. The Prodigal Son, the main subject of a parable Jesus used to explain God's radical forgiveness, had screwed up in an extravagant way. By demanding his share of the inheritance early, he effectively disowned his family and told his dad he wished he was dead. By wasting all the money on sensual pursuits, he communicated to everyone that his morally upright upbringing was dead to him too. After hitting rock bottom, he decided to return to the only person benevolent and gracious enough to possibly have some pity on him and help him, his father. He thought it would be an awkward conversation. After all, everyone at his father’s estate knew what he had done. His first words would surely be shared and spread through workplace gossip. So he prepared a statement.
“’I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he rant o his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:18-20)
God doesn’t need a prepared statement from you. He doesn’t need you to say the magic words and acknowledge your sin correctly when you confess something to him. He doesn’t need a sales pitch to convince him to offer you a little bit of pity – or even, audaciously, forgiveness. That’s how normal, everyday, sinful, judgmental humans operate, but God isn’t like that. Not only does he know about your biggest flaw, he’s already taken care of it. He’s already forgiven you. Beyond that, he’s already preparing to offer you reconciliation, new life, and new gifts, in a celebration that looks like the father in the parable who is overjoyed to be reunited with his beloved son.
Author and storyteller extraordinaire Max Lucado once described an incident that happened to him after coming home from work. He saw that his dog had dug through the trash and left a mess in the kitchen and was now cowering in a corner in another room. Max cleaned it up, but the dog couldn’t see it because he continued to cower in a different room. The dog felt that he should still be ashamed and broadcast his repentance because he didn’t know that his owner had already cleaned up the mess.
God has already cleaned up your mess. Knowing his forgiveness makes it a lot easier to confess to him and receive his forgiveness. There’s no need to be ashamed in front of him, or any of the other messy, sinful, flawed, and incomplete people out there – all of whom God deeply loves.
Just under 28,000 MR-S Spyders were sold in America, which is a good number for a tiny convertible. At its introduction, its engine output was in line with the Mazda Miata’s, but its lower static compression ratio allowed for regular-grade 87 octane (as opposed to the 91 octane required by the Miata, not to mention the two-seaters from Honda, BMW, Nissan, and others). Some owners have swapped in 2ZZ engines, others have modified the 1ZZ, and plenty more have enjoyed it the way it is. In a way, all humans are a lot like the Toyota MR-S – lacking something we think we need, but complete in the eyes of the creator.
