Nobody’s Perfect

One of the rarest feats in baseball is a perfect game. This is when a pitcher retires all 27 batters he faces during a nine-inning game. Not only does the pitcher have to show exceptional skill but also his teammates. If one of them commits an error, that wipes away the perfect game. In major league history, only 23 perfect games have occurred. Another one would’ve made the record books if it weren’t for a blown call by an umpire.

On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers retired the first 26 Cleveland Indians he faced. The 27th batter, Jason Donald, hit a ground ball to first base. Miguel Cabrera fielded it and threw it to Galarraga, whose foot hit the bag before Donald’s did. But umpire Jim Joyce, a 21-year veteran, ruled that Donald was safe. Replays clearly showed that Donald was out. Jim Joyce later acknowledged he missed the call and said, “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”

Last year, many ministers prophesied Donald Trump would be reelected President of the United States. A handful of them has since said they missed it. One named Jeremiah Johnson even shut down his ministry. However, others are still standing by their prophecies. One prophet who I consider a friend predicted the military would remove Joe Biden from the White House and reinstate Trump by April. That didn’t come to pass. Hopefully, my friend will issue some kind of retraction. I don’t want to see him branded a false prophet.

What happens when you mess up? Are you humble enough to say you made a mistake?

“A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.” - Proverbs 28:13 (Living Bible)

Bouncing Back from Blunders

Proverbs 11:30 says, “He that wins souls is wise.”  One of the benefits to sharing your faith is that it’s a continuing education.  No matter how long one has been doing evangelism, you can always learn new ways to approach people and overcome objections.  A soul-winner must also learn to rebound from mistakes made on the streets.

One afternoon in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, I handed out tracts while running errands.  As I was about to walk across a bridge back to the house I was staying at, I offered a tract to a man approaching me on his bicycle.  Sometimes bike riders will snatch tracts out of my hand like a baton from a relay runner.  Originally this man passed by me without taking the tract but then suddenly stopped.  A second later, a woman riding closely behind crashed into him, fell onto a grassy area next to the sidewalk and started crying.  At first I didn’t say anything as I was stunned by what just happened.  Meanwhile, the man helped this woman up and asked if she was okay.  When the woman commented that her arm was hurting, I mentioned that I was a minister and offered to pray for her.  After doing so but didn’t see a manifestation of healing, the man politely said “Thank you.”  I took that as a sign it was time for me to leave.

As I continued walking across the bridge, I brooded over the accident.  Suddenly I remembered the woman had been listening to an iPod.  Had she been more alert to her surroundings and not followed the other bike rider so close, this woman could have avoided crashing into him.  Nevertheless, I was determined not to let something like that happen again.

Exactly a week later, I was evangelizing in downtown Fargo and saw a huge amount of bicyclists coming up the street.  My first thought was to offer tracts to whoever would take one.  But recalling the accident in Coon Rapids the week before, I didn’t want to cause another one.  I considered offering a tract to the last biker who had no one behind him.  But instead, I approached a woman who was waiting for a friend withdrawing cash from a nearby ATM machine.  Edna said she was Catholic and thought she would first go to purgatory when her life ended.  Eventually she prayed with me to receive salvation.  Hallelujah!

So the next time something goes wrong while evangelizing, don’t give up on fulfilling the Great Commission.  Move on and keep sharing the gospel.

“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.  But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” - Proverbs 24:16 (NLT)