Perfect - May 8, 2024

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 8, 2024, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

My phone dinged, alerting me to a new message on Facebook Marketplace. I sighed and pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the message. For the past few weeks, I have received hundreds of responses to my ad for my 1937 Buick Coupe. Most responses are a simple, “Is this still available.” Quite a few make a ridiculous lowball offer without asking questions about the car. Even more, ask about making a trade and send me photos of something I am not interested in. 

But this message is a bit different. “I’m from Austin and really interested. I would love to get more pics of the underneath and door edges. I would love to take a look in person but would like to know what condition it will be in.”  After several messages, he messaged, “We can also get on the phone if you don’t believe that I’m really interested."

We talked on the phone for fifteen minutes while I described the car in detail. “It is an older amateur restoration with some scratches and flaws in the paint, but as far as I can see, the body is solid and rust-free,” I told him. After the phone call, I sent him more pictures of the areas he was worried about. 

A few days later, the man from Austin messaged me. “Could you send me your address? I think we would like to come take a look.” The next day, he sent another message. “We are on the way. We will be there tomorrow morning. We hope to make it into town late tonight.”

The following day, I received another message. “Good morning, sir. We managed to get to Texarkana. We are getting some breakfast now and then driving on. I think we should be there around 11.”

When the Ram pickup with Texas plates pulled into my shop, I was sure they were there to look at the 37 Buick. Two men got out of the truck and introduced themselves. I showed them inside the building where the Buick was stored.

They inspected the car thoroughly for the next hour, taking lots of videos. They were trying to broker a deal with a collector in Germany, sending him the videos and explaining everything they found out about the car. Ultimately, the German collector would decide whether to purchase or not. It looked like the Buick was heading to Germany.

After a detailed and meticulous inspection outside, I drove the car back inside. They wanted to get a better look underneath the vehicle. As he inspected the car, I could hear one side of the conversation he was having over the phone with the German collector. I didn’t understand the words, but I sensed something was wrong.

When he crawled out from under the car, he told me he had bad news. He had found some areas on the floor that had been repaired, and his customer wanted a perfect unrepaired floor pan. He apologized for taking up so much of my time, got back in his truck, and headed back to Austin.

Over the years, I have learned never to count on a sale until the money is in your hand, but this one seemed to be in the bag. Disappointed, I returned to work, trying to put the day’s events out of my mind. But I kept returning to the idea that the customer wanted the Buick to be perfect. And although the car is very nice, it isn’t perfect. Finding a perfect 1937 Buick Coupe would be very difficult, and the price would double or triple what I asked.

As I thought about the missed sale, I realized that far too often, I do the same thing when I think of people. It is human nature to look for flaws in other people. I was raised in a religious tradition that stressed living the perfect Christian life. I was taught that my salvation depended on my attaining perfection. When you have that outlook on life, you constantly see the flaws in yourself and others.

Social media has a way of bringing out the spirit of fault-finding, unlike anything else. We rarely compliment people for their good deeds but quickly criticize them and point out their imperfections. As humans, our first instinct is to point fingers at other people’s problems, sins, and character flaws. Yet the Bible teaches us that looking to ourselves before looking to others is wise. Jesus addressed the issue in Matthew 7:3-5 (VOICE)

“Why is it that you see the dust in your brother’s or sister’s eye, but you can’t see what is in your own eye? Don’t ignore the wooden plank in your eye, while you criticize the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eyelashes. That type of criticism and judgment is a sham! Remove the plank from your own eye, and then perhaps you will be able to see clearly how to help your brother flush out his sawdust.”

American writer and historian James Truslow Adams wrote, “There is so much good in the worst of us – and so much bad in the best of us – that it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us.” And Dale Carnegie penned these famous words. “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, but it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving!” It is similar to Paul’s words in the Bible: “Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13 (NLT)

In modern times, being critical is almost a virtue. Critical thinking skills are essential to problem-solving, analysis, and reasoning. But what happens when we use our critical thinking skills to attack people? We become fault finders.

People with the habit of fault-finding are so overwhelmed with details of other people’s faults that they can’t see the positive. Our marriages, business relationships, friendships, and families would be stronger if we refused to allow ourselves to be preoccupied with the faults of others.

Gentle Reader, when we continually look for faults, we will always find them. In the same way, when we are looking for good things, we will find them. Finding fault with others is dangerous because you are assuming God’s role! Mother Teresa once said, “If you judge people, you will have no time to love them.” God is the judge, and he alone knows all the facts. Let’s leave it to him. Nobody’s perfect.