The Finger-Flipping Firemen

God loves the 2 firefighters who flipped me off today. Yep, in unison, they told me where to go. I really don’t want to go there…I choose Heaven instead…but they really wanted me to go…bad.

It was the oddest thing that has happened to me in recent history.

They were off duty and driving in front of me at about 5 miles per hour. It became obvious that they were trying to provoke a response from whomever it was that followed them. We were in the right lane and stopped at a red light. They sat motionless (snickering) for about 5 minutes at a red light in the right hand lane without turning right on red. The row of 10 cars behind us began honking. In concert, they extended their middle fingers and began laughing. I was shocked…not because I’m a prude and have never been flipped off, but the fact that they were uniformed firefighters acting like junior high kids.

After September 11th, the world’s view of firefighters was elevated to new levels...and rightfully so. The respect that I have for those guys is amazing...hence the reason for the disappointment. I happened to locate the two guys at the bottom of the barrel of their respected profession.

I started thinking about those who choose to follow Christ. We are uniformed Christ followers. When we step out and let those around us know who we choose to follow, we clothe ourselves with a stereotype…right or wrong. I recognize the unrealistic expectations that are put upon Christians to lead a blameless life. That’s a different argument for a different day.

As followers of Christ, we should be expected to live in a glass house. People are expecting you to be different. Although it is impossible to live a perfect life, those who look into our glass houses are often hurt and offended when they see sin in our lives.

What must it be like for those who choose not to follow Him, to see us doing things and saying things that contradict who we are?

I’m specifically looking at this from the angle of the non believer. This incident made me contemplate the way Non-Christ Followers (NCF’s) perceive Christians. As Christians, the concept of grace takes care of our shortcomings. We understand this concept, and are able to forgive ourselves. But to NCF’s, this concept is not fully understood, if at all. Without seeing the whole picture, I would feel the same sentiment of hypocrisy that the NCF feels.

This used to be a pet peeve of mine. I would sense unjust hostility when I screwed up, and it would tick me off. I have since come to a point of grace and understanding for those who don’t view the world through the same lenses as I do. Instead, I am committed to trying to see the world as the NCF views the world. Somehow, I think this is how Jesus saw unbelievers.

Sometimes I believe that in our zeal for following Christ, we leave those who haven’t found Him yet in the dust. Let us never forget our job description. One of the last things were instructed to do by Jesus was to not forget those who have not found Him yet.

Lord, help me to be good child. Help me to see those as You see them...not as I think they should be. Protect me from haughtiness. Help me to never take lightly your final words. I count it a privilege to wear this uniform, Lord. Help me to understand how to better communicate with those who have not found You yet…even wayward finger-flipping firemen.