A man pulls a stranger from a burning car. Risks his own skin. Walks away with burns that won’t fully heal.

And someone says, “Praise God.”

Watch what just happened. A second ago the courage was the man’s.Now it’s God’s. And the man is a now a vessel; a conduit the goodness ran through on its way to its real owner.

Funny how the pipe only runs one direction.

When a man defrauds his congregation, nobody says God did it. When a father walks out on his kids, nobody says God walked out. Cruelty stays human. The bill goes to the person every time.

But kindness, it gets repossessed.

If God earns the credit for every act of human goodness, why doesn’t he take the blame for every act of human cruelty?

You can’t have it both ways. Either the person is the author of what they do, or they aren’t.

Pull that thread and you find two ledgers. A person can’t come out ahead on either. Do something monstrous — proof you’re fallen. Do something beautiful — proof of grace working through you. Heads, you’re a sinner. Tails, God’s a genius.

I think that’s backwards.

A man saw a stranger trapped in a burning car and reached in anyway. Not an angel. Not a saint. A man with a mortgage and bad knees and every reason to keep driving.

The courage was his. The risk was his. The scars are his.

Maybe the credit should be too.

We’re told a story like that should strengthen our faith in God.

I think it should strengthen our faith in each other.