A nice reminder!
These stickers usually amuse me; I admit to having a couple myself. But, I started wondering, why do we feel the need to advertise to everyone on the road what our hobbies are or where we like to vacation. I suppose it’s the same force that has some folks putting on Facebook or Twitter every fleeting thought they have or telling the entire cyber world that they are going to the grocery store or are standing in line at the DMV. Some people even feel the need to post pictures of the dinner that they just made. While all of this seems perfectly harmless, it makes me wonder why do we so desperately want the world to take notice of us? Are we that lacking in attention from our immediate family and our friends and loved ones or have we become that narcissistic?
We seem to have the constant need to compare ourselves to others. This bad habit usually begins in early childhood and never really entirely goes away. We can tame it with lots of work and a change of focus from self to God, but it takes a lot of discipline. Social media has put this innate need to compete and compare on steroids. Who has the bigger house? Whose kids are the smartest or most athletic or most attractive? Who goes on the nicest vacations? Who is running the most marathons? Who has the best life? The car stickers are another advertisement for our fantastic existence. But is it really fantastic?
The very first two commandments are “You shall have no other gods before me and worship only me.” While no one is running around worshiping a golden calf, how are we doing with “the having the no other gods deal?” Do we wake up every morning and thank God for one more day on this planet to help spread his message? Do we read the Bible as enthusiastically as a People Magazine at the doctor’s office? Do we proudly place a Jesus fish on that back window among all of the vacation and 5k stickers?
I once heard Joyce Meyer say that “God knows our hearts, but people see our actions.” She also said that we should be walking billboards for Christ. People should know who we belong to by our actions. While I totally agree with her, I’m going to throw in that I think our words go a long way too. What are we saying to others and about others and if I’m going to put my entire life story on my car window should I include a sticker for my Maker? I’m not saying we should all run out and buy a cross sticker for our cars. All I’m saying is if we try to objectively back up and look at our public image, cars, social media, how we talk to people at work, how we talk to our families and friends, etc… What would the casual observer see? Are we billboards for Jesus or billboards for self?
I’m going to spend some time praying about this one. I don’t think anyone means to put Jesus in the backseat, but sometimes that’s exactly where we put him and personally, I think he needs to not only be in the front seat with me, but he needs to be doing the driving. What do you think? Feel free to comment.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂