Sometimes it seems I am on every seller’s mailing list. I get all kinds of
weird offerings, from male enhancement drugs to how to live to be 100. Not
related, but are they? And they just don’t cram my inbox at Christmas, but all
year long. One site I have not unsubscribed from recently started a blog, and
although I have never bought from them, because of their ad today I will. It
featured motorcycle ads from the 1970’s, a time long ago to many, but within
memory’s grasp for me. And my riding. Dominated by Kawasaki, they advise us to
let “Kawasaki let the good times roll,” and they are very catchy. Enticing to
the point of taking a ride down to the shop just to sit on the new models and
dream. How many of us when younger did just that, staying just long enough to
assure the salesman that we were interested, and when we did buy it would be
from him. My walls were covered with brochures, even my school notebooks had
them stuffed inside. While some of the less mature kept Playboy centerfolds
stuffed in their books, mine were of Honda 350’s, the new BMW /5 series, and of
Kawasaki’s Mach III. Girl’s curves were OK, all right better than OK, but curvy
roads leading out of town and to unknown adventures kept me sane while waiting
for class to end. BMW advertising “a ball with no chain,” to Suzuki’s “shout
hallelujah get on Suzuki,” to Honda’s “follow the leader, he’s on a Honda,” all
promised sunny days, curvy roads with no traffic, and the perfect riding partner
with you. But that was so long ago, and there are no longer very many ads for
motorcycles on TV. Of course Harley, Victory, and Indian all can be found on
Velocity, and other motorsport related channels, but long ago they were on prime
time network offerings. Right there after Rosie told us Bounty was the quicker
picker upper. She obviously never rode, as motorcycles were a quicker picker
upper when it came to dates. Still are today. Leave the mess for later, I’m
going riding!
So let me refer you to the Bike Bandit Blog, and the 10 Most Memorable TV
Commercials of the 1970’s. These were great, and from kids riding to police
chasing and stopping a station wagon to return a kid’s toy, even John Travolta
rode a CB200, paying for a fill up with change, how could you not resist the
urge to ride? And so many of us did, and still do. The good times still
rolling after all these years, with many memories of riding with friends, wives,
or solo, but never alone. The thrill of the open road is a call that many have
answered and thanks to the commercials can relive. Harley asks “when did it
first happen to you?” And your answer is.....
And in response to the ads, many of us succumbed, mostly buying used bikes
that needed work, and could only be ridden for a few miles at a time. We
learned mechanics, and how to reinstall master links, install plugs after
cleaning, and adjust chains. None of the good times we were promised from the
ads. But in these basic maintenance functions we became more intimate with our
bikes, through bruised knuckles and bleeding fingers were learned grease, any
grease stopped the bleeding. What size band aid would fit and not impede our
shifting, and jus how far 30 cents of regular would get you. But when I bought
my first new bike, a 1972 Honda CB350, for all of $825 out the door, the world
of riding changed. No longer was a ride interrupted by sessions on the side of
the road, we rode until we went on reserve, filled up and rode some more. We
had become the riders in the commercials, the good times rolled no matter what
brand, we met the nicest people on Hondas, and that someday when you will own a
Yamaha came for many. All because an advertisement drew us into
motorcycling.
For me when friends started talking Jesus to me I blew them off. I was
having too much fun to be restricted by religion. Too many rules and “thou
shalt nots” for this guy. I had learned of the freedom of the road, and didn’t
want anyone or anything or any other God to interrupt. The ads for religion all
showed such clean cut, goody two shoes going to church, where was my long hair
and leather jacket going to fit in? Can’t ride to church anyway...or can you?
I still find Christian ads today not so much for me, as I do Christian movies.
Too pure, with no real problems like we see in the world. Torn prom dresses,
not getting accepted to State, or missing the big game on TV fall short of
drugs, crime, unemployment, and financial ruin. Real world stuff, we don’t see
in ads, but hear only in testimonies. We are told in Revelation it is by the
word of our testimonies and the blood of the lamb we are saved. We are the
advertisements, the commercials for Jesus. Each with a different testimony,
giving veracity to Paul’s statement of how he became all things to all men. He
started relationships with others, the stories he could tell. Maybe the
ultimate bench racer when it came to testimonies. And people listened then, and
they listen now to ours. Just an invite to church is so impersonal and lazy,
but when you can share what Jesus has done for you....well....
And for a time I was an advertisement for Jesus. Wore my Christian colors,
Jesus t-shirt, even had fish stickers on my car. And wondered why many would
avoid me, until I stopped wearing them, and these types starting bothering me.
They were so busy prosletyzing they cared more about their argument than they
did me. It was when the spirit revealed that people will only care about how
much you know, after you show how much you care that my witness became more
effective. It was about Jesus, the message the gospel, and my actions would
tell more than my words. Add in attitude, and just visiting, becoming friends,
and caring can be more of a gospel message than chasing them off after reciting
John 3:16 over and over. You see Jesus calls us friends, he was a friendly
guy. Do we act like that? Has you Jesus shirt become a warning to other so
lookout and run away? If ads got us into bike shops, what ad are you showing to
tell others about Jesus?
This Sunday we will have our annual Chocolate Birthday Party for Jesus.
Bikers both Christian and non will attend. As will those from church, met at
rallies, work, and other places. We invite them in, and they see that as
Christians we have many things in common with them. Only we have Jesus, and in
our words they will see we are different. Let the spirit change them, you just
deliver the message. One of love and courtesy, show compassion, and watch.
Jesus will do all the things your back patch or bumper sticker can’t. We care,
and I hope it shows.
Be that ad for Jesus that invites them to listen. The spirit is calling,
you just might get to be the messenger that day. Only Jesus saves, we don’t.
Maybe I shouldn’t ask where have all the motorcycle ads gone, as each one of who
rides is an ad for riding. Just as each Christian should be an ad for Jesus.
If no one is answering your ad, maybe you need to change agencies, let the
spirit dwell in you. Motorcycles provide a freedom that no other way can,
except Jesus. For where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. What does
your riding show others about you? If only we cared as much about how much our
lifestyle tells others about Jesus. The only way to let the good times roll.
When did it first happen to you?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com