The Crocodile Book

“Back at the beginning of the summer, I had this letter that came in the mail from the library, our wonderful public library. I love that place, I love to hang out there. I love to read and my boys are learning to read, so we go and hang out there as frequently as we can. (1) I got a letter, I got a letter from the library, that says basically this, ‘Mr. Laskowsky, this book called Crocodiles, you checked it out at such and such a time, and it was never turned back in.’ (2) I thought, well, I know good and well we turned that book in. We sure did. We got that letter, Teri and I,… we rallied the boys This book, Crocodiles, has not been returned to the library, so they say, so we turned the house upside down looking here, there, everywhere. The book did not show up. (3) So, I said okay, I’m going to the library and I’m going to tell them, ‘You know what? We turned that book back in, we have turned our house upside down’…That’s exactly what I did. The person there was very nice, the gentleman there, I think his name is Gary, some of you probably know him. We have such a wonderful town here. Great guy. I told him, ‘You sent me this letter and you are saying this book is missing, and we have failed to turn it in, but we are absolutely certain that we turned that book in. And you know what? He was very gracious, he said, ‘Well, okay, …it’s odd, but it would not be the first time…you know we are in transition…we’re changing locations…we moved from the old building into the new building.’ So, he granted what we call ‘Grace,’ And so, you know, I went back home and weeks went by…this was back at the beginning of the summer and just two weeks ago we happened to be pulling books off the boys book shelves, they have about two hundred plus books. Okay, we have four boys and there are books galore. They pull out one, and guess what happened to show up on the book shelf? The Crocodile book.(4) Now, I’d love to tell you that Pastor Greg, your wonderful, spiritual pastor, immediately thought, ‘We must make this right!’ But, I did not. I said, well, I thought in my mind, ‘You know they have already written it off, I’m sure they have insurance to cover lost books, (laughter)…I was heading down a course…I had decided, you know, ‘done deal’, until the Holy Spirit spoke through my eight year old…(louder laughter)…Zachary spots the book and says. “DAD!, there’s the book about crocodiles!!” “That book that we said we turned in, and the library sent us a letter, they told us we owed them money and we told them we don’t and they said we did, and we told them we don’t, and we went to the library, so they took it off our account. Zachary’s good with details! (laughter) (5) And he said, “Okay, Dad, what do we do now?” And, of course, God began to speak to me. Not only did I need to take the book back, it wasn’t mine, it wasn’t theirs, We needed to take the book back. Not only did I need to take the book back, but I needed to apologize, face to face with the man that I assured that I didn’t have the book. The third thing I needed to do was pay what ever penalty they might impose. And in my mind I’m thinking, ‘Lord!, have mercy, they might charge me $100 for that thing.’ (laughter) And you know what? We went there, humbly, and I brought my boys with me. (laughter) You see, God does not let your pastor get away with anything! I tried to think of all kinds of reasons why the boys should stay in the truck. But, they wouldn’t give in.. God wouldn’t either, so I brought the boys in and I asked for them to come out. I explained the whole thing. And, you know what? They said, “We understand. It’s okay.” (6) I said, “Thanks for receiving my apology, but please, let me pay you because I feel terrible and I begged them to let me pay for the book, and she said, the lady that was helping me, she said, “Gary has already worked your account in such a way that can’t really do that. We can’t charge anything to your account because it’s been completely eliminated. That is an awesome example of the forgiveness of God. And that’s what motivates us now as Kingdom people. It’s not this threat of punishment, it’s not this threat that God’s gonna beat me up and throw me into Hell. We don’t want to live like that! You’ll never be successful in the tension between the two worlds because what the kingdom of this world does, it wants you bound up with fear, and to drag you all through those repeated patterns of sin because you are living in the bondage of fear. The moment we begin to understand, then we are motivated differently, it’s love, God loves me, unconditionally, and as soon as I understand that, I begin to love Him, and appreciate Him in greater and deeper ways…” (end of illustration)

RelationshipàInjuryàCommunicationàRepentanceàRestitutionàReconciliationà

On October 9, 2005, Pastor Greg Laskowsky of Grace Covenant Church, Statesville, NC preached a sermon on being a citizen of the Kingdom of God. It occurred to me during the illustration on the Crocodile book, that every element, or almost every element, of the Justice model was included. So, with permission, we will parse the illustration to show you how Kingdom Justice applies now. This is a wonderful story that we call all learn from.

Please, remember that Justice exists as a system whereby we can be reconciled to those that have sinned against us and to those we have sinned against as well. Using the term ‘sin’ in connection with this illustration might seem strong to some, but let us not excuse unrighteous conduct as a mistake or an accident when motives and heart attitudes are in anyway un-Christ like. I am convinced that if we would judge ourselves and discipline ourselves, then we will be more apt to find mercy with God rather His displeasure for our self-justification. Remember, it is His Kingdom and not ours.

(1) When there is an offense between two or more individuals, then there must be communication between them to correct the wrong and to restore the relationship as it was before the offense. It is incumbent on the one who first is aware of the offense to initiate communication. If you have sinned against a brother, then go talk to him about it and get it straightened out, even small things can cause a division that God does not like. If your brother offends you, in a sinful way, then you have a love obligation to bring it up with him. If you can’t overlook the offense because it is sin or because it has adversely affected the relationship, then you need to talk to him about it. The goal is reconciliation and not revenge or punishment. The library contacted the pastor, and see his first reactions, self defensive and self justifying. Back to 2

(2) “I know I turned that book back in!” Did he? No. Did he sin? Even though it was unintentional and a small thing to most of us, he did sin. It was not his book to have and hold. (Our lessons will be better learned if we do not dismiss or excuse the small things.) Although, he ultimately did what was right before the Lord, he has a little struggle with being accused of something he was sure he had not done. I think this is totally normal for most of us, but he did not let it end there. He and family searched with due diligence to find the missing book. And then, he showed the proper example to his sons by taking them with him to defend his case at the library. (The sons probably learned more from this whole episode than anyone else and will be better for it.) When we think we are accused of wrong falsely, it is a good idea to listen to the accuser who certainly has a different, and perhaps more accurate perspective than our own. Good and open communication if part of the Justice model.
Just a short word on bad communication. If someone accuses you of something, there is no need to immediately become defensive and try to talk your way out of responsibility. Do not think that to be accused is to be guilty. No one has any right or authority from God to accuse or condemn without proof and especially when the accuser is personally involved. Work your way through to good communication and reconciliation. Back to 3

(3) The pastor communicated back with his accuser and declared his innocence, the circumstances, and his diligence to locate the missing book. Was this right? Or should he have just plead guilty and paid the fine? He was totally correct, from a Kingdom perspective, to defend himself. Even though he was really guilty, he told it just the way he saw it. Make believe humility is not part of Justice.

Now, who had the authority to forgive the debt or demand replacement of the book? God? The Librarian? Or the pastor himself? Of course the librarian had the choice to enforce a penalty or to do as he did in erasing the charge. Does this mean that the pastor could have put pressure on the librarian to get an easy outcome. No! Any pressure to manipulate someone we have wronged is a perversion of Justice. God sees straight though that kind of action. This judgment by the librarian, to forgive the debt, was a demonstration of mercy. Mercy always has the characteristic of helping someone who can not help themselves. Notice, I said it required a judgment to determine whether to have mercy or to require replacement of the book, plus a possible fine. The librarian would be perfectly just to decide either way. It might also be noted that the librarian was most graceful, giving a gift, because the pastor did not offer to make restitution at this point. He only declared his innocence.

Think of God as the supreme Judge of the Kingdom, who has given all authority to judge over to the Lord Jesus. He has instituted Justice in the Church so that we might learn to work out disagreements, disputes, and sins among ourselves first. (This includes sin in troubled marriages.) This is actually to be preferred to having to give Him an answer for our misdeeds and our offenses toward our brothers and sisters. He is more strict than one can imagine with the unrepentant and will not show mercy to those who have not been merciful. Back to 4

(4) There is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed! (Let none of us think that anyone gets away with anything.) This was true mercy of the Holy Spirit to bring forth the hidden book. The pastor was given an opportunity to make a wrong into a right, to teach his sons a lesson in righteousness, to lead his family as a Godly father and husband, and besides all that, he passed his personal test. What test? Every person’s character is tested by life events and the results affect his heavenly reward. Each of us have similar opportunities to pass (or fail) the tests of life.
A refinement: When the pastor declared, “It’s a done deal” he set aside his capacity to here from the Lord on the matter. Well, who has not done that? Still the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, came along side the boy to help the dad. This reminds me of Samuel who, in his boyish innocence, heard the voice of the Lord calling when the high priest’s ears where dulled. If any of us conclude a matter, we assume that God has nothing more to say about it, but He is faithful to work out His purposes in us. God will use donkeys, wise men or fools, bosses, spouses and little children to get our attention. It does not matter how we hear as long as we hold a continuing desire to hear Him when He speaks. Back to 5

(5) “Okay, Dad, what do we do now?” I think this man heard from the Lord, because he then recites the path to forgiveness and reconciliation. (with the library) There is a predictable pattern when God gives us instructions in Righteousness. It is the path of Repentance. ( I’m afraid we’ve lost touch with what is involved in Repentance following the idea that “I did that when I got saved, so I don’t need to do that again” kind of thinking.) In the God’s Justice system, Repentance is the most wonderful gift that we could hope for. It is a chance to change our minds and actions, to make wrongs into rights and to be changed to be more like Jesus. Imagine, if we had only one, two, or even three times to ‘get it right’ and then faced the Judgment of God. Wow, I’d be a fried critter for sure! How ‘bout you, reader?) Back to 6

Repentance always has these components:

(6) The pastor shows a great attitude in offering to pay for the book, even if it cost $100! But the real life questions most Christians need to adjust for their own lives are more like, “Is making restitution or making amends really necessary? Shouldn’t we be released from obligations if the other person is a real believer? Are they unforgiving if they expect repayment?”

I fear that the self-love and greed triumph over righteousness in many situations. If this were not so, would we see so many broken relationships in the Body of Christ?

My answer, which I think reflects the heart of God, is this: Do what ever is necessary to repair the relationship though it costs all you have. Do what is right. Demonstrate love for God and love for the other person. Put yourself last and you will come out ahead.

Supporting Scriptures

Luke 17:3, Numbers 14:11-23, Col 3:12-14, Matt 6:14, Matt 18:35, John 20:21-23, Mark 2:10

1 John 3:7-10, Matthew 6:33, Is 42:1-4, Ps 89:14-15, Luke 18:1-8, Matt 21:43, Matt 5:17-20, Luke 11:42, Matt 23:23