Driving the church van is a real challenge. The challenge is not the physical demands of keeping the van on the road; it’s the challenge of driving around with the church name on the side of the van. Everyone can see who you are, and everyone can tell whether you’re driving like a Christian ought to drive.
We all face the tendency to get a little over-aggressive at four-way stops. And we all face the temptation to fudge a little bit on the speed limit. It’s easy to forget that you are driving the church van and to start driving like you usually do in your own vehicle.
Several years ago I got a letter from a woman in a distant city who did not know me; neither did I know her. In the letter she said that she had observed one of our church vans being driven at a speed-limit-defying rate of speed. She felt this to be an unchristian thing to do, and she was sure that I would like to know about it. The person who was driving the church van that day had forgotten that the name of the church was on the side of the van.
All of this makes me sympathetic with Tim Tebow. Tim is quarterback of the Florida Gators, and is an outstanding Christian. Many football players use eye-black or black tape beneath their eyes. It’s supposed to cut down on glare, but mainly it’s used as decoration to present a more ferocious face to the opponents. This year Tim decided to redeem this custom for a more noble purpose. Because TV cameras like to zoom in on the face of the quarterback during the game, Tim decided to put Scripture references on the black tape underneath his eyes. In the SEC championship game with Alabama, he had Phil. 4:8. Fans who went scurrying to their New Testaments to read that reference found these words, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.†Then, during the BCS national championship game with Oklahoma, Tim had the reference, John 3:16, on his black eye tape. Those who checked that reference found the words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.â€
Tebow’s witness reached a nation and was an impressive statement of his faith. There was just one small problem. In the latter stages of the game with Oklahoma, after making an impressive gain, Tebow got into a little confrontation with an Oklahoma defender and did the Florida gator chop in his face. The referee threw a flag on Tebow and penalized him 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct for taunting an opponent. Ouch!
It’s so hard to live up to our signs. In the heat of battle, it’s easy for all of us, not just Tebow, to fail to live up to the best that we know. Being identified with Christ and His Word demands our very best. Ultimately, the deepest impressions that we make will not be made by the signs that we bear but by the lives that we live. What does your life say?
