Jesus Over Jaywalking
I had a strange dream a few nights ago. I was standing in a crowd of people on a city street corner, and it was taking a long time for the “Don’t Walk” signal to change to “Walk.” The crowd of waiting people all began mumbling to each other, and collectively we decided to cross the street anyway even though the sign had not yet changed.
It was a busy street, so we inched along as one big lump of people, dodging the cars coming at us from our left and right. It brings to mind that old video game “Frogger” I used to play in the 80’s (my, how technology has changed)!
It was dangerous navigating and we had some close calls, as we were now in the middle of the busy intersection and it was getting harder to avoid being hit by oncoming cars.
Suddenly, a big monster truck pulled in front of us and stopped, blocking our way from going further. Oddly enough, the monster truck was actually a police officer most of us knew in town--nothing unusual about this in dreamland, folks—and we were all relieved it was him, because we knew him to be a really nice guy. Even so, after assisting us all safely to the sidewalk, our nice police officer monster-truck-driving friend proceeded to write us each a ticket for jaywalking.
We were complaining to him as he handed us each our tickets. “Awwww come on… people jaywalk all the time, it’s no big deal! Are you really gonna give us a ticket for this?”
His disposition was as nice as we all knew him to be as he responded, “This is necessary. Someone’s gonna get hurt when you do this sort of thing.”
Then I woke up, with these words echoing in my head:
Don’t jaywalk with the crowd.
I thought about what a strange dream this was as I got up and fixed my coffee, at first thinking it was just one of those random “pizza dreams” that happens sometimes. But as I reflected on the words that had drifted into my thoughts when I first awoke from the dream, I realized it’s a representation of “the Christian walk” of our modern-day times.
If you’re a parent or have ever spent time babysitting small children, you’ve probably cautioned (and maybe even admonished) a child about running out into the street. Why do we do this? For the protection of the child, of course. They may be determined to do what they want to do, but we know there is danger of them being hit by a car if we don’t teach them not to do it. It’s for their own good that we’re preventing them from doing something they want to do.
The Bible is our heavenly Father’s instruction book for what is good for us, and what is not. In my own faith walk, I used to pick and choose the things in His Word that fit with how I wanted to live my life, and dismiss the others as outdated or not relevant to the world I live in today. Even though the Bible says we are in the world but not of the world (See John 17:16-17), I was choosing to be of the world and go along with the culture crowd. After all, isn’t it easier to go along with the crowd, and what culture says is cool? Isn’t it more fun to cross the street when I want, where I want, and how I want?
It’s MY LIFE and I can live it the way I want to, right?!?
Well…that’s what I used to tell myself. And yes, God does give us free will to do so, but there are consequences we will experience in doing so. After years of doing things “my way,” I came to a point of surrender and choosing His will over my own. And with the intention I’ve put into cultivating relationship with Him (which is not the same as religion), I’ve come to realize His instruction manual is for my own good.
How do I know this? First of all, because He loves me. Second, He knows all and sees all. Third, even Jesus Himself did what Dad told Him to do:
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. (John 5:19).
This doesn’t mean completely removing ourselves from society. We have been placed here for such a time as this, and we have encouragement in Scripture to continue a relationship with the world around us (Hebrews 10:24), (Matthew 5:15-16), (Mark 16:15). But we should also be careful to live in a way that pleases God, not the culture:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
Also, Proverbs 14:12 warns where making our own way will lead us:
There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.
These days, my Christian walk is much different than it used to be in my “Frogger” years. Though it may be counter-cultural to yield for the light of His “Walk”, when I get to the other side I want to hear Him say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
I’m glad I woke up, and started choosing Jesus over jaywalking with the crowd.
reSOURCEs:
What’s the difference between Biblical and Cultural Christianity? Crosswalk
Are you a cultural Christian, or a Biblical Christian? Charisma News Article
Here’s a good place to start learning in His Word: Read Proverbs