One of the most successful weapons, if that's the right word, that Shorts ever made was a guided missile. It was designed to be fired by an infantryman, an ordinary soldier, and it could knock out tanks, personnel carriers and all sorts of armoured vehicles like that.
But the secret of its success was its guidance system.
Believe it or not, the missile was connected to the soldier by a wire, and he steered it by remote control. A bit like those toy cars we buy small boys at Christmas, that work for about 10 minutes until the batteries run out.
Obviously this was a very long wire, but the principle was exactly the same, and having fired the missile in the direction of the target you simply steered it home. A bulls eye every time!
Naturally the army were very impressed with this and began a exhaustive training programme. Early results were impressive. It was difficult to miss with this and success rates were running at over 90%.
After a while however, something strange began to happen. Some men's scores began to drop off. Instead of getting better, they were getting worse. What was more disconcerting was that the men whose scores were getting worse, were men of above average ability. Military chiefs were baffled, but an army psychologist finally came up with the answer.
He discovered that the men were getting bored. It was too easy. And so they began to play a game with themselves, steering the missile away out to the right and then bringing it in again. Then they would weave the missile from side to side. Inevitably they occasionally missed the target.
Anyone who has ever worked with young people with have encountered the same thinking.
"Can I still be a Christian and go to the disco?" "Can I still be a Christian and go to the pub with my friends?" "Can I still be a Christian and stop going to church because it's boring?"
In other words how far can I stray away from my target of living as a Christian and still hit it?
The answer is, "Don't ask me. Ask the guy firing the guided missile. Ask him how far he can stray off the target and still guarantee hitting it? Or better still ask his Commanding Officer.
His Commanding Officer will tell you that you can't afford to stray at all. You've got to keep the target squarely in your sights and keep heading for it.
Incidentally, your Commanding Officer says the same thing.