I just spent three days with a hybrid for the third time, a loaner car, a
Ford C-Max. I believe and still believe a Prius is the quickest way to give up
your manhood, but I am softening on hybrids. Still not a believer. Electric
motors mean instant full power, they are quick and use less gas. But they also
come wrapped in some ugly bodies, and the C-Max is no exception. If it was
sporty like our Mustang I might be interested, a $125,000 Tesla is vastly
overpriced, but someday I too may be coerced into one of these golf carts
disguised as an automobile, but for now, give me the good old Otto four cycle
engine. The clincher to any romance came when a friend saw me in it and said
“is that your car?” And I had no place to hide...no, it’s just a loaner....but
it’s not too bad...and the excuses begin.
England recently passed a law outlawing new gasoline powered motorcycles in
2040. I can just hear my grandson who will be in his twenties then, “in the old
days my grandpa used to ride a gas engine, boy he must be old.” I’ll be in my
eighties, and still riding if I can lift a leg over the seat, even if I need
assistance doing it. So hybrids have a future, may not function as bad as they
look, and may not drain us of all our manhood, call me old school, or really
just school, but internal combustion is still the way for me.
I still look at hybrids like I do hybrid Christians, as mugwumps. A
mugwump is double minded, sitting on both sides of the fence on issues, his mug
on one side, his wump on the other. Hybrids may be OK in cars, coming to
motorcycles, but have no place in a Christian’s life. James tells us “a double
minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Dangerously walking both sides of the
fence on issues, his heart not following God, but popular culture, church
direction, or his own ways. We are told you cannot serve both God and
mammon-money, that we will forsake one and worship the other, we all can look
back to when money left us down when we chose it over God. Jesus warns us in
Revelation that “because we are not hot or cold but lukewarm, he will vomit us
out of his mouth.” It made him sick. Hybrid theology, take the truth, and
change it to make excuses for our sin. We see these hybrid theologies in
prosperity movements, name it and claim it, those who deny the deity of Jesus,
and some who just want to make everyone happy, like those sickening bumper
stickers, or Rodney King’s plea of “can’t we all just get along?” No, sin will
always separate us from God, and Jesus will only be the only way back. So
churches move away from the Bible, deny the spirit, and allow their flocks to
live like hell, never telling them there is a hell, that might upset them, cause
them distress, or make them seek religion elsewhere. We don’t need religion, we
need Jesus!
So maybe we need to ask ourselves, “why do we sin?” Probably because it is
fun, and we don’t like to do things that aren’t fun. We feed the flesh,
discount the spirit, and soon live a confused life. A house divided cannot
stand, nor can darkness with light. It must flee when it is exposed, and our
sin is exposed not by God, but by us. God doesn’t send anyone to hell, it is
our decision, and a hybrid Christian is really saying no to Jesus. Running on
one spirit when he can be running on the holy spirit, who needs no backup or
substitute. But unlike most hybrids, sin comes wrapped in an attractive body,
promises physical delights, and leaves a footprint we cannot see, many times
until it is too late. Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals.
And the first time you think it cannot happen to you, you have lost, given into
pride. And the alternative spirit has taken over, subtly, but it is there. So
what to do?
We don’t need a higher power, we need Jesus, and his spirit he left with
us. We need to repent, turn to him and let the spirit guide us. The spirit
comforts, the law causes pain. The spirit gives wisdom, the world cause
dissention, whereas the spirit unites us with Christ. We cannot have both,
saying yes to one is saying no to the other. Saying no to Jesus condemns us,
saying yes saves us. Can I make it any easier to understand?
So maybe we need to step back and do a quick evaluation to see who powers
us. At first it will hurt your pride, good, and point us to Jesus. Then
knowing the truth, we can be set free, or fall back on alternative power. But
as for me and my house, we will choose the Lord. For just as there is no
substitute for cubic inches or replacement for displacement, there is no
substitute for Jesus. Anything else cannot deliver what he promises. While
some get excited about his walking on the water, I get more excited about his
resurrection. I will to be resurrected someday. But may never walk on water
unless it is frozen into ice. I may be softening on hybrids, never soften on
the holy spirit, it was him who called you to Christ, and out of darkness, why
settle for anything less? A double powered car may be OK, but a Christian
should never be. These things shall follow them that believe, what comes out of
your tailpipe tells us a lot about your God. Life is more than who charges your
batteries, so go with all the power you can get, and his spirit too. If bad is
so good, why don’t you like getting caught?
Think about it, if Prius made a motorcycle, would you ride it? I rest my
case.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com