We have a Blessing for New Drivers in our worship celebration periodically. It is a time to recognize those who have recently begun to drive and a reminder to them that driving is a great responsibility. What is interesting to me is that the things that we ask our young people to do are not always very evident in the adults in our congregation. We asked them to be patient, forgiving and grace filled drivers. I know for a fact that we have some folks in our congregation that deal with road rage. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the parents of our new drivers were in this group. I would even assert that ALL churches have people in them who are not so patient or forgiving in the way they drive. We asked them not to drive distracted or while texting but I find myself doing these very things. One year my youth group tagged my car with shoe polish and wrote “Youth Minister” across the top of my front window. I had that on my car for at least a week before I took the time to clean it off. I realized that it controlled my driving impulses. I was more gracious and forgiving as a driver because I took seriously that I was representing Jesus in the world. My husband recently showed me an urban myth on Facebook about a woman who was screaming and yelling at a driver in front of her (also sending her hand signals) who was arrested because the officer assumed the driver had stolen the car because it had a Christian fish on the back as well as other kind and loving bumper stickers. I’ll never forget driving in San Diego and thinking that they had the nicest drivers. It was a much different experience then driving in Dallas.
My point is that our behavior even while we drive matters. Especially, if we put Christian symbols on our cars! But really all the time. It is an extension of how we treat others. If I wrote, “Christian” on you front windshield what would you be teaching the world about Jesus?
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