Aiding and Abetting…. Grace.
A couple nights ago I had to go out and FAX some paperwork. I was running up against a deadline but at least somewhat mindful that in the city, there are always Gospel opportunities.
Thankfully, I got everything done just before the store closed. As I got in line to pay, the guy in front of me was checking out and a little short of cash. “What am I going to do?” He said to the girl at the register. She appeared less than interested and just wanted the guy to go. He looked at me and said, “I’m a dollar short, can you believe it?”
Normally, I wouldn’t blog about my “good deeds” as I wouldn’t want to waste my reward here as opposed to storing it up in heaven (read Matthew 6:1-2) but I have to share this one because it is what God did with me after the fact that is my point. But let’s get back to the story…
So I set the dollar on the counter as I said, “I’ll gladly help you out. We all come up a bit short, don’t we?”
As he thanked me continually he said, “Do you like movies?” I thought that an odd thing to ask in the circumstances, but said, “Yes” anyway. “I’ll give you a movie, that’s what I do for a living. And that’s when I realized I may have made a mistake. That’s when I noticed that he was buying a very large spindle of blank DVDs.
Now I was born in Los Angeles and have been around people in the film industry. This guy, while shifty eyed, talking fast and smelling a bit like smoke, may have been able to fool others into believing he was in the industry, not so with this seasoned Angeleno. 
I realized I just helped a guy buy DVDs so that he could make more pirated DVDs to sell illegally.
“I’ve got a movie for you buddy,” he said excitedly. “It’s the right thing to do. Giving you something for what you gave me is the right thing to do.”
I wish I could have said something else. I wish that in that moment I had something helpful to say but all I came up with was, “No, the right thing to do is to help someone in need. Please don’t steal my joy by having to repay me. It’s not grace if you earn it.”
Yeah, he didn’t really understand that.
So, when I got outside. He was waiting for me to give me a movie. I’d like to say that I stood my ground and said no thanks or something like that, but I didn’t. I let him give me something, said thanks, waited for him to leave and tossed the DVD into the trash.
As I drove back home, I was thinking about how I had just tried to help someone in need only to find him using the help for less than good purposes. I was a bit frustrated with myself for not being more discerning. Had I just, even in a small way, been guilt of aiding and abetting a minor criminal? This guy is a scammer and thinks nothing of it.
And then I recognized that I am no better than a “copyright-breaking-DVD-pirate”. All too often I steal from God. I think more highly of myself than I ought to and take credit for things for which God alone deserves the glory. I am a “law-breaking-glory-pirate” trying to pass off myself as my own copy of God, hoping others will buy it. Ouch!
But God still offers undeserved grace to me. He sent His Son to live the life I couldn’t live and die a death in my place. He has called me as an ambassador of His grace. Yes, it kind of stinks that by showing grace to this guy, I kind of helped him to continue his illegal operation. But offering grace is what I am to do, even if it is to people who don’t deserve it… just like me.
