It’s only 2:20 pm…I have plenty of time to get all my errands done. Sure this line is enormous but it’s a law right? What goes up must come down…and what walks into the DMV must wait in an enormous line. Still, this shouldn’t take long. I mean, I just have to show them a paper, pay a little bit of money and be on my way.
It’s 3:45 pm…I am running out of time for my errands, not to mention patience and sanity. The Indian guy next to me needs some DEO for his B.O…BAD. I’ve moved down twice…so has he…I can’t figure it out. Now I am leaning away pretending that it’s the most comfortable way to sit. The room is filled with people waiting to die while the automated voice announces a “now serving” number once every decade. I stare at the guy a few seats over who is playing with his new iPhone…I have a flip phone…it does nothing to save me from this nightmare.
It’s 4:15 pm…I am fully about to lose it. But then again so is everyone in the room. What I’d pay for an iPhone with an app that lets me hear peoples thoughts right now.
“That’s an interesting thing to bring to the DMV.” The woman next to me breaks the silence to another woman who is reading a Bible.
“It goes wherever I go,” the second woman responds. “Ever since I was washed in the blood.”
“What?!” says the first, uncomfortably.
Now I’m interested.
“You haven’t been washed in the blood of the Lamb?”
“Ummm…probably not…”
I can tell the first wishes she hadn’t said anything.
“You see,” chirps lady two “Jesus is the Lamb of God and we must all be washed in his blood if we want to go to heaven.”
A guy down the row chuckles…rubbing his eyes.
“Is that so?” replies lady one, now leaning away from lady two.
“Oh my!” exclaims lady two “You have so much to learn!”
“I guess so” lady one replies, flatly, while she stealthfully slides her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and, no joke, makes it ring.
“Excuse me, I have to take this.” She gets up and walks away.
The conversation is over and the 42 people eavesdropping in on it must now go back to searching for a weapon with which to kill time.
It’s 4:50 pm. Miracle of miracles I am walking out of the DMV. The sun is significantly lower in the sky and the 1/32 Cherokee Indian in me understands that it is now too late for any other errands. Still, at least I am free from my last days torture training session.
As I drive home I can’t stop thinking about the DMV Witness. Technically, her theology was correct & she was just seizing the moment and being bold for Jesus. I admire that. But she was weird. Really weird. And that’s what I can’t shake.
Indeed, to be a follower of Christ means to be an outcast of the world. But isn’t the Christian walk supposed to be a way that mankind can live a balanced, healthy, and happy life? Isn’t that the point? It’s practical. It’s freeing. In fact, it’s the closest we can get to being normal, the way God created us.
Putting myself in lady one’s shoes makes me cringe. Apparently I’m not acquainted with the Christian faith and this stranger wants to wash me in pool of somebody’s blood…and that sounds fully disgusting.
Putting myself in lady two’s shoes makes me sad. I get the chance that I’ve been praying for and actually step up to the challenge of openly sharing my faith and all I get are awkward looks and an abruptly ended conversation.
Where does faith meet with reason? Where does bold meet with practical? How does the desire to share Jesus with others balance with the desire for people to see how He has changed me for the better and not into a psycho?
I put myself back in my own shoes and none of these questions matter. Because I said nothing. I did nothing. And I don’t need to find balance for something I don’t do…
Father, give me boldness. But also give me the words…because you are the furthest thing from an idiot…and following you shouldn’t make me one.
2 comments:
I appreciate your personal involvement in the story Donnie. Perhaps a scene was played in front of you as a call to your practical boldness. You have an attentiveness to spiritual buzz words and traditioned responses to difficult questions.
Thanks for the reminder of balance that we should all move toward. But finding balance means that we are actually in the middle of something.
Interesting story. Sorry you had to wait so long at the DMV. I appreciate how you look at both sides of this, and what it must have felt like for both of them. I agree that we need to do our best to communicate in a way that is helpful. At the same time, it makes me think about how Jesus used parables to "hide" the secrets of the kingdom from those who didn't get it. And of Paul's being a "fool for Christ." At some point, being normal for Jesus will make us look foolish to the world. But on the other hand, maybe there are ways of being "all things to all people" so that we are wise stewards of the opportunities God gives us. It made me think, though, what I would have said to that comment. I'm still thinking.
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