March 13, 2023

Don’t Let Jesus Get In My Car

 

Hey everybody,

A few weeks ago, in a message about growing in humility, I mentioned allowing people to go ahead of you in traffic. The point was about valuing others as better than yourself, including when in your car.There was an audible response in the room to the idea of being like Jesus while driving. Afterward, I had several conversations with people who joked about how hard it was to integrate faith and driving. It turns out Christians can be as aggressive, rude, and distracted as drivers who don’t follow Jesus. Who knew?

This got me thinking of other areas where Christians seem just as cranky and angry as their non-Christian counterparts. See if you agree with me.

  1. Driving

See above. I know this: I’ve been told off and cut off by plenty of people sporting church bumper stickers, and I’ve had other people tell me that the way they drive is why they DON’T have a church bumper sticker. Are you one of those?

  1. Politics

Politics is a blood sport, and plenty of politicians (and their supporters) seem to think it’s okay to leave Jesus at home to win at the ballot box. Should Christians enthusiastically support candidates who treat others with disrespect? Does how Jesus taught us to treat our enemies NOT apply when it comes to our civic engagement? Please don’t get mad at me; I’m only asking the question.

  1. Social Media

Like me, I know many people who have grown weary of social media because it is such a toxic environment. Unfortunately, I’ve seen Christians be as toxic as anyone else online. I guess people assume that Jesus doesn’t go with them when they enter the cyber world. It sure seems that way from my vantage point.

  1. Restaurants

I’ve seen Christians who’ve had a bad restaurant experience shortchange their servers (who did their best) and berate managers. But they prayed before they ate…so…at least there’s that. Sigh.

I’m sure there are other environments where the “outraged Christian” feels justified in acting NOTHING like Jesus. I’m bringing this up because we are starting a new message series this Sunday called “Outraged.” The subtitle of the series is “Responding with Grace in an age of outrage.” The idea is: what if followers of Jesus were so much like Jesus that they changed the tone of our cultural conversation? Wouldn’t that be something? Is it even possible? Is it realistic? Is that what Jesus wants?

Please join me for this very timely series. In addition to the start of a new series, we have a bunch of people going public with their faith through baptism after the end of the second service. I hope you will make plans to stay after and cheer them on in this momentous step in their faith journey!

Blessings,

Pastor Jamey

PS What other areas have you seen Christians act as outraged as their non-Christian counterparts? Reply to this email and let me know.