The Saboteur

Probably some of the difficult times I’ve experienced has been dealing with disappointment in other people.  Sometimes it is the co-worker that promises you something that they don’t deliver on or someone who is deceptive and defrauds you. Add to that equation that some of these folks claim to be Christians sometimes makes things really difficult to bear. 

Probably one of the most memorable events I had in dealing with deception occurred at the hands of a fellow competitor.  I campaigned a Mini Cooper in solo events and eventually in SCCA “C sedan” racing.  I needed a new differential for the Mini.  A fellow competitor had installed the very costly limited slip differential and had a nearly new standard unit for sale.  The price was very reasonable and so we struck a deal.  I carried home my prize and we soon had the engine out and the case apart to install the new unit.  The spider gears on a Mini sit on a shaft that is held in place by a drift pin.  To remove the spider you just drive that pin out and the shaft will slide out and allow access to all the other pieces.  In the haste to get the new differential installed, I had not pulled out the spider gears since they all looked fine. It was obvious the unit had already been put through a part’s washer and cleaned of any old oil and it looked ready to install.

I had checked the all critical drift pin and could see it was in place just fine.  As I was walking over to the car I had a small hammer in hand and I tapped on the main spider shaft.  To my horror, it moved.  The second tap and the shaft slipped free and the spider gears and the whole assembly fell apart in my hands.  As I looked down the bore of the central shaft, the drift pin was not protruding into the bore as it should.  Further inspection revealed that someone had neatly cut away part of the pin with a high speed grinder.  The differential would have been a time bomb.  If the car was running at any speed at all when centrifugal force cause the shaft to fly out, it would have destroyed the gear box, damaged the engine, and probably locked up one or both front wheels.

My first impulse was to take a few large friends with me and throw this part through the windshield of his car and get my money back.  Then I thought of a more subtle plan.  I neatly replaced the pin with an old one I had in my parts bin. I installed the differential in the car and the few mechanic pals who knew about this incident were all sworn to secrecy.  I ran the car like this for several years and eventually, when I sold the car, it still had this differential in it.  That guy came out to quite a few of the slalom events waiting for the fireworks that would never come.  It was just a few years back, when I was cleaning out my tool box, that I ran across the sabotaged drift pin and it brought a smile to my face.

I guess that I have come to realize that I can’t be like a spiritual Rambo and try to right every wrong and punish every wrongdoer.  This job is reserved for God.  Peter writes: ^{1PE 3:8-9 “}Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

My responsibility is to make sure I let my “Yes” be something that others can count on and set an example of following through on all my promises and not making promises that I can’t keep.

^{JAS 5:12} “Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else.  Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.” 

Lastly, I’ve come to realize that when I am wronged, I can sit around and simmer about it but all that does is make me and those around me miserable.  It is like me slowly drinking poison while I wait for my adversary to die.  I need to forgive and keep my focus on Jesus.  As holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom put it so well, “Look around and be distressed; look within and be depressed; look at Jesus and be at rest”

Richard Lewis
Pathway Christian Church
Riverside, CA