Flawed...aren't we all!

Flawed...aren't we all!, a photo by bobmendo on Flickr.

Alexander Pope said "to err is human; to forgive divine." And although I think I understand and embrace that, others have different perspectives on that. For instance, former US vice president Hubert Humphrey said, "To err is human. To blame someone else is politics." Confucius said, "The cautious seldom err." The ancient Greek Euripides said, "Forgive, son; men are men; they needs must err."

However you state it, we make mistakes. We commit crimes. We fail in our duty. We sin. We fall short of God's standards. We all blow it.

But do we agree with this rego plate, that we are flawed? That is, that by nature we have an non-correctable error in us. Something inside is broken. Is that true?

One of the Jewish phrases which stands out in modern conversation is "tikkun olam" a Hebrew phrase meaning "repairing the world." The term used to mean something like "in the public interest" but the actual definition has become more what moderns use.

If the world needs repair, then who broke it and how do we fix it? If the world needs repair, then what does that say about my world, or my situations? What about my car? My house? My family? My own spiritual life? And if it needs repair then it must by definition be broken. When did that happen?

So I think I'm of the opinion and I think the Bible bears witness to this as well, that I'm flawed and that the world is flawed, and that we all need repair. I suppose the great reality of the faith of the Book is that not only did God demonstrate how sinful we are through the record of the Scriptures, but He also showed us the way out.

It is not by human effort that we fix things. That would be like wiping an oil spill with a wet rag, but rather that by a Human's effort, Y'shua, we can be forgiven. That's pretty substantial. And pretty amazing.

Because Y'shua died, was buried, and rose again, we can be forgiven of our sins. That's where the world's repair begins. In the human heart. Because of The Human, the Man Y'shua, and His love for us.

Flawed? Yup. Forgiven? Hallelujah, that's me!