Life at a Red Light

1 Corinthians 8: 9  “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

I received this in an email a few weeks ago.  Not sure who created it or even if the story is true but the point it makes is priceless.

The Story:

The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup. She was going to be late for her meeting.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

The officer had her place her hands on the hood of the car while he searched her and her car.

After clearing her and her car he said, ”I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally…I assumed you had stolen the car.’  Too funny…but deep with truth.

When someone is in a business meeting with a client they are there representing that company to that client.  To the client they are the company.  To miss represent the company would lead to consequences, even loss of a job.

Aren’t we thankful God is a bit more forgiving?

I think spiritually we sometimes struggle with this element of pride that can get in the way of really touching the lives of others with our faith.    I’m a Christian! See how much like Jesus I am! Churches becoming more like clubs that seem to loose focus of their purpose and reason for being!

We can display our spiritual lives so nonchalantly sometimes by wearing crosses, putting bumper stickers on our cars or windows, carrying our Bibles where ever we go, making sure people see us when we bow our heads at a meal in a restaurant.  It can be seen sometimes when someone leads a prayer for a group or in a church.  Are they really praying and having a conversation with God or are they giving a mini sermon to the people that are listening?  I’m not saying these things are bad.  I’m just asking what is the “why” behind the actions.

When I look at the life of Christ, I see him living at the level of those around him, interacting and relating to them on a personal level.  Touching their hearts within.  He won their trust, then won their hearts.  Years ago I was involved with a youth ministry called Young Life.  They always had a saying that went like this “You have to win the right to be heard.”  I truly believe that.

People are watching.  They are not so much interested in what our Sunday morning actions look like.  They are more interested in what our Monday to Saturday actions are like.  We can either draw people in or turn them off by what they see.

I am surrounded by such a great group of friends at this point in my life.  I have learned so much from them.  Not one that I can think of seems to take their faith and walk spiritually as a source of pride.  When you look at their lives you see them humbly volunteering at the soup kitchen for the homeless each week.  Instead of throwing out old clothes you see them gathering clothes and taking to places for the homeless to share.  You see them working on Habitat for Humanity on weekends.  You see them traveling to under developed countries and villages and to build wells to provide fresh water to the people of that village for the first time in their lives.  You see them purchasing inexpensive suitcases every time they go into a Target or Walmart to give to orphaned children who are moved from one family to another to carry their clothes in when all they had before was a trash bag!  A trash bag! Think of the symbolism there!

No,  these individuals are living the life of Christ every day through their actions. I see in them love, respect, and acceptance for who others are unconditionally.   Never trying to change others, letting their lives and actions be their main witness.  I fall so short of their example.

On the other side of the coin, we have to be careful that we don’t take this to an extreme becoming legalistic in our actions and loosing the freedom that Christ brought us. There is a balance. But it is good to sometimes ask ourselves, what is the “why” behind our actions?