The Underappreciated “You Missed a Spot” Guy

Articles From Our Bulletins

Philip C. Strong
05/25/21 - Bulletin Articles

I have no idea how many preachers have wives that like to and often paint (walls, not pictures). But for those preachers’ wives that do, I’d bet you have a great “you missed a spot” guy for a husband. That’s because we preachers typically excel at “you missed a spot”! Perhaps our chosen vocation is responsible, since it’s kind of part of our job to find and point out “missed spots” of understanding and application from the Word of God. Then too, it’s possible that our mastery of the skill comes from our brethren's ability to find all the “spots” (points and/or passages) we missed in our sermons. And of course, it’s not only the people in the pews that find the “missed spots” in our lessons, our compatriots in other pulpits are also great at finding them for us. “Peer-reviewed” science or medical publications don’t have anything on preachers!

But I’m here to take up for the “You Missed a Spot” guys… at little, at least. They are, as the title suggests, very much underappreciated. Think about these “helpers” with me for a moment. The “You Missed a Spot” guys (be they male or female):

Don’t have to have any experience at preaching, or painting, to be right. They may have never, nor will ever, prepare and present a lesson publically, but that of itself has nothing to do with whether or not we “missed a spot.” If we “missed a spot,” then we “missed a spot.” Will pride and hubris prevent us from admitting and correcting/covering the “missed spot”? Will our lack of humility instead prompt us to dismiss “the spot” because we deem the “credentials” of the guy who identifies it to be somehow lacking? If the truth is still the truth even if spoken by a liar, cf. Titus 1:12-13, and it surely is, then it is still the truth when spoken by someone lacking credentials or with no experience in the field. Furthermore, even those we may consider “enemies” may just be more willing to show us the “spots we missed” than our “friends” precisely because they’re not worried about hurting our feelings.
May indeed have “a log” in his eye (or even several of them!), but that doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have a speck in yours, cf. Matt.7:1-5. Just like liars can and do tell the truth occasionally, even hypocrites aren’t always wrong just because they’re hypocrites. How often the “You Missed a Spot” Guy attends, what spiritual failures and shortcomings exist in his life, or how much he does or doesn’t participate, can and should be addressed separately. But we cannot allow these factors to influence whether or not he’s right about our “missed spot.”

The point is this: Would you prefer have a “missed spot” on your “wall” (in your lesson or in your life) to keep your pride intact, or would you rather have “complete/accurate coverage”? How often the “You Missed a Spot” Guy paints, helps, attends, preaches/teaches, or the size or number of “logs” in his eye really has nothing to do with whether or not I/we “missed a spot.” But truth does, both in our lives and lessons. May God remove the hubris and grant us the humility to be willing to hear and heed “truth” regardless of who speaks it. “Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,’” John 8:31-32.