Nick Lutz has a unique approach to rejecting an apology. And I’m glad I am not on the receiving end of it.
Lutz is a student at the University of Central Florida. After an eight-month relationship, he broke up with a girl who, apparently, felt that she had slighted him and wanted to make things right. So she wrote him a four-page letter to apologize. Hand-written and heart-felt.
Lutz’s response? He pulled out a red pen and graded the letter. He gave his ex a D minus, explaining that he “took off points” for lack of indentation, faulty reasoning, an overly long introduction, a condensed conclusion and several grammatical errors. From his lofty perch, he explained that her grade reflected a “long intro, short conclusion, short hypothesis but nothing to back it up. Details are important. If you want to be believed, back it up with proof. . . .You claim that cheating never occurred but place blame on yourself — then what for? Need to stop contradicting your own story and pick a side.” And, as if not condescending enough so far, he offered to accept a revision if she wanted to have it graded again.
Lutz claimed that he meant it to be a joke with his friends, but then he posted pictures of the apology letter on his Twitter account. By the end of February, his post had been retweeted over 100,000 times and “liked” at least 300,000 times.
So then, predictably, the crowd joined in. And some of those followers felt obligated to advance the unnamed ex’s humiliation by noting areas Lutz neglected to catch. As one girl tweeted, “There were quite a few missing apostrophes in contractions, if you want to count off points for that, too.”
Well. Aren’t you helpful.
How quickly we gather to throw more humiliation on the hurting and fallen! And maybe it isn’t a red pen we use. Maybe it’s rocks.
Remember that unnamed woman, tossed down in the dirt in front of Jesus, pushed there by prideful people, armed not with red pens, but with rocks to grade her faults and sins? But then Jesus confronted the crowd with their own sins. They dropped their rocks and left. Except Jesus. He stayed. No rocks and no red pen. Just grace and forgiveness for the repentant and humble, the broken sinner in need of a Savior (John 8:1-11).
When you come to him in humility, God doesn’t pull out the red pen and grade your contrition. He doesn’t parade your failure so the crowd can humiliate you further. He doesn’t say work harder, be better, and I’ll revise the grade to see if you can move closer to perfection.
No, that’s not God. So what does God do when we come to him with a repentant, contrite heart? He points to the cross. He picks you up, dusts you off, and shows love where you least expect it. He forgives.
The crowd wants to shame you. Jesus wants to save you.
He’s just waiting for you to ask.
When I first heard you tell this I was amused, but after giving it some thought I realized that I would not want to be on the receiving end of such harsh treatment either. Thank GOD that He doesn’t take out a red pen and grade us this way!