It's all about my glory, don't you know?

This morning I was driving to work when a taxi cut across me and bumped into my car. He then decided not to hang around and talk about the minor damage done to my bumper. I got furious, started hooting, took down his number plates, and followed after him. He eventually managed to escape into traffic and got away.

This made me angry. How dare he just drive away? I'm going to the cops and take him to small claims court. He must go to jail. He bumped some of my property, MY property. He wasn't respecting ME. Doesn't he know I'M important? More important than him that's for sure. I should have rammed his taxi back.

I was so very entitled.

It reminds me of a sermon given by Andy Stanley where he talks about how as humans it's all about our glory and what we can get and what we're entitled to. People must know that it's all about my glory cause I earned what I've got.

Unfortunately the Bible paints a very different picture. One in which we deserve nothing. There's this rad parable Jesus tells about a man who is in a heap of debt and has no way to pay for what he owes. This man goes to the king who lent him money and begs for time to repay his debt and the king cancels his debt. The man then goes and finds someone who owes him a small amount of money, demands to be repaid, and has the man thrown into prison until he repays the debt.

A few months ago I bumped a lady's car and she totally let me off the hook. Now was an opportunity to extend the same grace I had received. The taxi driver doesn't deserve grace, but if grace was deserved then it wouldn't be grace.

The reality is that the damage is not worth getting all riled up about. Yes, taxi drivers are often bad drivers and you can't play bumper cars on Buitengragt. But in my own heart, I don't want to be the unmerciful servant who receives grace on Sunday and is unwilling to extend it on the Monday. I might still report him to the cops, but it's not going to be because "nobody messes with MJ and gets away with it", rather because its not good to have dangerous drivers on the road.