One of my favorite lines of this past week (there were many great ones, trust me, but I'll start with this one). I was caught red-handed this past week, jamming out to some inconsequential but eminently awesome 90s song on the way to small group. When I say red-handed, I mean over-the-top, out of control, completely unaware that I was being watched, red-handed. This probably happens a lot. There's just something special about being alone in a car with 'nothing on but the radio' (okay that's probably not what Gary Allan was talking about in that song, but I digress). I've never quite understood why a car feels so safe. I mean... there are windows on all sides! Not exactly a private place. And yet we can be ourselves because no one around us will ever see us again. We share but one solitary commute and one idle stretch of road with our fellow travelers, and never the two shall meet again.
So we feel comfortable and safe not just singing to a song but JAMMING to a song. You know what I'm talking about: shoes off, lungs bursting, head bobbing, imaginary microphone in front of you, and maybe even a little hip shaking if you're truly adventurous.
So this was me as my friend happened upon me on that shady, tree-lined avenue in west Houston, TX. Alas, I was more than a little embarrassed to have been caught so exposed in my silliness.
It's times like these that the sin nature can rear its ugly head. And particularly in one form: defensive maneuvers. Like I have to explain away my silliness as if it's some rare tropical disease I picked up in my wilder days. So of course the first thing out of my mouth as I got exposed in my freedom was a back-pedal... "Well, I didn't realize that you were watching..." I promise you... I backpedal better than a Division 1 cornerback. My friends will tell you that I pretty much explain everything. I could invite you to lunch on Wednesday and tell you exactly why Thurs-Tues would be a bad option for me. I'm the guy who gets asked the time and tells you how to build a watch. It's weird to be an introvert with a big mouth, but somehow it works for me.
Anyways, I'm digressing again. Let's get back on track. So, thankfully, the past few years of walking with Jesus have slowly taught me not to be defensive all the time, constantly explaining myself. It's a daily battle to be justified by Him and not by myself, but I see the victory that is already there. I'm betting you my friend didn't think twice about this concept that I've now blabbered on for upwards of 10 minutes on my computer. I hope you're enjoying it.
But the more that I feel like nothin's on but the radio, the more addicted I get. I wish all those times in my life were accompanied by an immediate pride in the freedom I have in Christ to be His and to not care about what other people think. To not explain everyday minutia as if it were life and death. To sing at the top of my lungs with 300 people there, instead of with me, myself and I in the car (We're a triple threat, but we're not exactly a quorum... turning nerd off now).
All this has me pondering Galatians 5:1...
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Have you been living this way... tasting freedom but yearning for slavery?Sometimes I have in recent weeks. I got the chance recently to talk with a friend about Lot's wife and the concept of looking back upon stuff, people, or periods of our lives that are behind us and are no longer part of our identity... yet I find myself relating to Lot's wife as well. And there Galatians is to remind us of our identity. It is in the uncompromising freedom of Christ, bought with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Why should I go back to those times of such hurt and pain when what lies before me is a life of freedom, an identity that claims Lord Jesus and doesn't particularly care who is in the car next to me as I sing my head off?
Embrace the awkwardness. Embrace the weirdness. Embrace Christ.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. - Philippians 1:21
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