The old saying, "Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades," is still pretty accurate today. In many instances slightly missing the mark eventually equals completely getting it wrong. We have all passed through hit or miss, in or out, pass or fail scenarios. In these instances, one can simultaneously be so close while completely missing it.
In the New Testament, we see this reality playing out over and over again, often amongst the piously religious. We see leaders rooted in the practice of the Law yet so far from the Spirit of God. Priests brushing up against the person of Jesus while missing the heart of Christ. Somewhere along the line religious performance was substituted for a heart that seeks after God. The compass began recalibrating to a slightly off "True North" leaving a road littered with traditions and void of the God it was meant to lead to. Some cases are astonishing.
One such instance plays out in John 5 when a cripple's faith met Jesus's words, "Pick up your mat and walk." The most shocking part of the text isn't the miracle but instead the response of the people's guardians. "[So] the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, 'You can't work on the Sabbath! The law doesn't allow you to carry that sleeping mat!'” (John 5:10)
Are you serious? Jesus suspends natural law, achieves an unparalleled medical breakthrough, and in an instant undoes 38 years of paralysis and all they could come up with was, "...well, technically it is Saturday and holding your soiled nasty mat that you have been suffering on for 38 years might qualify as work. After all, the weight of your urine in the fabric may have tipped the scale above the legal carrying weight..." Talk about "missing the forest for the trees".
It is amazing how far off we can get when we fix our eyes on the things that don't matter and lose sight of who it is all really about. In a world full of competing interests and twisted thinking we must keep the "main things the main things" and fill our view with Jesus, the author of life and perfector of our faith. For when we lose sight of Him and seek to run our lives on our own we may find ourselves only one degree off, yet 100% wrong.
"We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne." Hebrews 12:2
- Micah McElveen