Forgiveness vs. Permission

A reader’s email asked me to address the issue of using church equipment and not returning it to its proper place. A couple years ago my newly purchased stools for the adult Sunday school teachers went missing from their classrooms. My search lead me to the auditorium where I discovered the confiscated stools sitting proudly on the platform waiting for the musicians to use during worship services. A youth minister once told me his philosophy was ‘It’s easier to ask forgiveness, than it is to ask permission’. Embarrassingly, many of us use the same attitude in the church when dealing with one another. Come to think of it, in my confiscated stool situation, no one asked permission or forgiveness. Do you suppose that’s why I still remember it?