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.
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.
He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.
After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
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.”
Jake Schembri is credited with this story. I don’t know if it is original or fabricated, but it doesn’t matter. We have all seen similar things happen. In fact, maybe some of us have been responsible for showing some anger over just such a situation. Hopefully, none of us have resorted to such extreme actions as this woman.
Our actions say a lot about who we really are. When everything is going well, it is easy to be a kind person. When things are not going well, we tend to take our frustrations out on others.
A friend and I were recently discussing a situation at work. A young woman in her department came to work inappropriately dressed. My friend made an interesting observation. She explained that she thought nothing of the attire of this young woman because she isn’t a Christian. When one isn’t a Christian, there is no expectation.
Is there an expectation when it comes to good and bad behavior? I think there is. I think those that proclaim to be Christians are expected to behave in a Christ-like way. But what does that mean? Let’s look at some passages of scripture to see if this is true.
“Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright” (Proverbs 20:11 ESV).
A child is so open, and he behaves according to his feelings. In other words, the child shows his/her real character. Character is formed early in life. A child learns early what he can and can’t do. He needs consequences to help him develop the right kind of character.
Timothy was a young preacher. The apostle Paul saw potential in him; and he devoted two letters to him, First and Second Timothy. He gave him a lot of advice, but the following verse was probably one of the most important things Paul said to him. “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (First Timothy 4:12).
Paul wanted Timothy to be an example for good in every area of his life. He wanted Timothy to have a strong faith and love his brothers and sisters in Christ, and he also wanted his speech and his conduct to be above reproach. He couldn’t be the preacher he needed to be if he didn’t live what he preached.
It is like that with Christians today. We need to live what we say we believe. We can’t say we love Jesus and hate our fellowman. We can’t profess the name of Christ and use profanity or take God’s name in vain. We can’t say we are Christ-like when we show our anger as the woman did in our story.
Everywhere we go, people are watching. Whether we are at work or play. Whether we are at home or out in public. Whether we are with Christians or non-Christians, we are an open advertisement for Christianity. James said, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13).
Peter understood the concept of holiness on the part of Christians. Before becoming Christians, how did we behave? We may not have been cruel, destructive, murderers, or thieves. But our priorities were not on Jesus and trying to live like Him. As Christians, Peter gives us the following advice. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (First Peter 1:14-16).
Sandra Oliver