Cruise Control

Cruise control is a wonderful piece of technology found in most cars these days. I spend a fair amount of time traveling back and forth across our state on I-90 for various reasons and there's nothing like 70 MPH on cruise control. I do have a couple of rules for it's use though. I rarely use it when it is dark and never when the temperature is below 37 degrees. You're now asking yourself, "What has this got to do with Christian living in the context of a modern world?" Read on and see.

When you use cruise control you can slip into a false sense of security. You can become just the least bit less attentive. If you do that at night, you can more easily drift off to sleep and then crash. The same holds true when it is below 37 degrees. You may hit a patch of ice on the road you didn't notice and all of a sudden your facing east on the westbound side of the highway. Both of these can result in a terrible, and sometimes fatal crash. They can also effect others who are innocently in your path.

We do the same thing as we follow Jesus day in and day out. Sometimes we engage our spiritual cruise control. That's okay to a certain extent, but we need to know when we shouldn't. We need to figure out when it is safe and when it is dangerous and can cause harm to us or those around us. We need to know when to disengage it. There are a number of ways we can engage our spiritual cruise control.

Weekly church attendance can easily be put on spiritual cruise control. When our coming together with the family of God becomes a habit, or a routine, we've engaged our spiritual cruise control. We need to make sure that even though our attendance may have become habit, that we don't develop the attitude that it has become a duty or a checkoff list item. We need to stay alert to the needs of those around us and make sure that we pray the Lord will show us something and teach us something, even through the most routine or traditional church service.

Giving financially can be put on spiritual cruise control, too. Again, staying alert is the key. The Bible tells us that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. My wife and I digitally write that e-check first thing just as automatic as you can get when we receive income. However, we stay vigilant to be joyful in what the Lord is able to do with our tithes and offerings. We get excited at the end of the year when we do our taxes and see how we have exceeded what the Lord has asked us to give and wonder what He has been able to do with what we gave. When giving is merely habit, it can quickly and easily drift into the realm of being a bill and then when we hit a financial bump in the road, it's the first thing we don't pay. That is one of the most beautifully paved roads to a spiritual crash there has ever been.

Being a witness of the power, grace, and mercy of Christ in our every day life is the last way I'll share today. As we live out our lives at work, at school, at the bowling alley or lake, or wherever else we find ourselves, we need to be careful to always show the love, grace, patience, mercy, and forgiveness of Christ as we encounter people. It is so easy, when on our spiritual cruise control, to just expect everyone to see your testimony and understand. They should just "get it". We need to purposefully look at each interaction with any and every person we come in contact with and be the hands and feet of Christ to them. We must be ready in season and out of season, as the Bible says, to share our testimony and what the Lord has for all of mankind.

There are other ways we can engage our spiritual cruise control. I have only brought up these three because they tend to be pretty universal. Cruise control isn't bad as long as you stay alert and don't use it when conditions are not favorable for it. The same holds true for our Christian walk. Let's be aware when we have engaged our spiritual cruise control and be vigilant. Don't be afraid to click it off by tapping the brake a little bit to make sure you have the proper attitude and motives for all that you do.

How often and in what ways have you put your Christian walk on cruise control? Feel free to comment and share.