By Jeff Scoggins

I was too young to have a driver’s license but I was getting close. Not that it mattered in Rwanda since I’m pretty sure no one had one. Driving for a boy my age was naturally a pretty big deal, even if it was through a game park over dirt tracks that could hardly be called roads.

One day my dad asked me to drive our little Peugeot not through a game park but to a little shop about a mile away mostly down hill from our house to buy some bananas. He gave me 100 franks, about a dollar at the time, for the bananas. My brother jumped into the passenger side and I shoved it into gear, pleased to drive without a parent along.

The trip down the hill went uneventfully. Buying the bananas went uneventfully. But driving back up the hill didn’t go so well. Try as I might the car simply wouldn’t go. It would try to pull itself up the steep incline but it lacked the power to do it. I was experienced enough with a clutch to not stall it. I knew the trick of using the hand break to keep from rolling backward down the hill. But the car wouldn’t go. I worked the clutch back and forth rocking the car, revving the engine and still no luck.

After a while I began to smell a burning odor and then the car wouldn’t move at all. I walked the mile home with a heavy heart.

My dad and I got into “The Beast,” which was the name of our ancient but still strong Land Cruiser. Emergency equipment including extra gas, first aid, car parts, tools, and chains lived in The Beast just for such occasions.

At the car my dad showed me that I had been trying to start off up hill in third gear instead of first gear. I had burnt out the clutch.

We towed the little car home and parked it under a shade tree in our yard. The next day a shade tree mechanic who made house calls tore it apart and in a day or two he had replaced the clutch. My dad still fondly recalls his $300 bananas. I don’t remember them being all that good.

I had done the right thing the wrong way. I had permission to be driving. That was right. Leaving home I had probably started off in third gear too, but I was starting down hill, so in that circumstance it worked. I had used the brakes properly. I even worked the clutch correctly on the way home. Only problem was in the last circumstance third gear wasn’t good enough. Circumstances change the relation of things.

As Christians we are charged with leading others into an ongoing relationship with Christ. But sometimes our methods leave something to be desired. What made a difference in one person’s life is very likely the wrong thing for a different person or different circumstance. We may be doing what was the right thing at one place and time but at another place and time it can lead to snuffing out someone’s tender spiritual flame.

As Christians we are also charged with moving closer to Christ ourselves. But sometimes our efforts leave something to be desired. As a child quickly reading through a chapter in my Bible may have been pretty good. But as a more mature disciple of Jesus a cursory devotional time isn’t right for the circumstances. It’s a pretty dangerous thing to convince ourselves we are doing the right thing just because it worked last time.