Maroon Car Jesus

The other day I was driving down National Ave. when a maroon car with a Jesus fish on the trunk and a cross decal in the rear window made a right turn without stopping and pulled in front of me. I applied the brakes to keep from ending up in “maroon car’s” back seat and then spent the next few minutes following this car and thinking about what it means to be a witness for Jesus.

Two blocks later we stopped at a red light and the person in the maroon car turned right at the red light so that they could turn left into a bank parking lot and then back onto the road, breaking traffic laws, in an effort to bypass the light. It worked, in the sense that the maroon car with Jesus on the back got where it wanted to go without getting stopped by an officer of the law, but it didn’t go unnoticed. Someone is always paying attention.

This is the lesson that all of we who follow Jesus need to understand and apply. When we claim Jesus as our Savior we take on the responsibility of representing Jesus in the world and someone is always paying attention. This means that every word we say, every thing we do, every trip we take, and every dollar we spend is a statement that is being read by someone. This means that our entire lives needs to be laid as a sacrifice on His altar.

Now, I understand that there are extenuating circumstances that no one but God will see or understand and it’s possible that “maroon car Jesus” may have been desperately trying to get to the hospital because of some family emergency but that doesn’t release me from my commitment. My relationship to Jesus needs to be more than just a set of sacred songs or a holy litany performed in a congregation. My faith has to go beyond Sunday or Christmas or Easter and be embodied in the ordinary things of my every day life. Until my relationship to Jesus becomes the core of who I am it hasn’t become what it needs to be.

I expect it is possible that one day it will be my turn to be that one who is rushing to the hospital and when that time comes I know that God will understand if my life (in that moment) doesn’t adequately reflect his love made real. I hope that those who see my desperation won’t blame my failure on Jesus.

But, today, I need to live my life as if someone is watching because someone is.