I have learned that listening is a valuable tool to solving problems. But
so is asking questions. When I would get a complaint of “my car does it all the
time,” my first question is “is it doing it right now? No, well then it isn’t
doing it all the time.” And through a series of questions could narrow down the
complaint, and address it. But with the increase of electrics in cars, the
playing field changed, and old questions would get new answers, and often
frustration on the part of the owners. Men just expected us to fix it, women
would read the manual, then ask questions, so you better have an answer. But
two older women gave me insight one day, insight that I have applied to my life
and ministry. A long time Mercedes Benz customer, this woman had an older car,
almost 20 years old. She knew the drill, and how much maintenance cost, yet
gladly paid it. Asking her one day “why don’t you buy a new car, with all the
money you spend on this one, you could afford it.” Her answer surprised me,
“because I feel comfortable in this one. I can easily afford another, but I
know where all the buttons are on this one. No surprises, and I really don’t
want to learn about the new ones.” Good answer, she had a relationship with her
car, it served her purposes, so why change, why trade it in?
Later another older woman proved her point to me, both women unknown to
each other. She had just bought a new S class, and couldn’t work the sound
system. She knew the buttons on her old radio, but this one was confusing, and
was constantly talking to her. So sitting in the car with her, I counted the
buttons on the dash, 39 of them. It confused me! And the voice was from her
GPS giving her directions, she didn’t know what a GPS was, or how to turn it
off. I figured it out, we laughed, but you could see her car wasn’t bringing
her much happiness. When I jokingly told her “if you have a problem, ask a
teenager, they know about all the is stuff,” she smiled and said she would. The
next time I saw her she told me how her grandson had helped her out, and now the
two go out together for rides and an ice cream. She even knows the way without
the GPS!
But it was my mother who had really pointed all this out to me years
earlier. Her car never went more than 10 miles in any direction, and was
getting old after 15 years. She had gone looking, the first thing that turned
her off was the price, and the story of how she had paid less for her home, 35
years ago. The second was she liked her car, so why trade it. But the last
was, she felt safe in it, she knew all the buttons, the squeaks and rattles, it
was easy to park and drive, and most of all, it was paid for. That advice had
been given me years ago, it took me years to use it, and from a woman who
wouldn’t know a master cylinder from top dead center. She knew her car, not
cars, and that made her happy. WOW! My mother teaching me about cars? Is it
possible that MOM is really WOW upside down? Maybe it is how we look at
things....
Jesus tells us that true freedom comes from doing his will. From staying
in his word, and following his spirit. We establish a relationship with him,
and what we are doing is discipleship. We come to a point in our relationship
where we just trust him, and as for those who ask “What would Jesus do?” they
know, because they know Jesus. While so many emphasize being in the word, they
have the word, Jesus Christ in them, which changes everything. The gospel is
simple and basic, yet man has added rules, tradition, and religion to it, making
it more complicated. When a friend asked his pastor recently about the
Pharisees, his answer didn’t match up to scripture. So he asked more, and soon
they were off the subject. Too many buttons, too many complications, all he did
was ask a question because he wanted to know. This man had studied to be
approved, but only found his approval in his relationship with God. He prayed,
the spirit directed him, and he found his confirmation in the word. So if you
ask “what would Jesus do?” he would remind you of his spirit he has given us,
how he has given us his word to back it up, and how his word is the truth, not
just a truth. And how it really sets you free when you live by it. Asking is
OK, but having a relationship with Jesus is the way, and being guided by his
spirit how he designed it. Yet too many stray when the don’t get an answer, or
the one they want. Religion will confuse them, as religion is designed to do,
Jesus came to save us from it. Remember it was the religious Pharisees who were
his enemies....
So keep the gospel simple, learn by doing, not just hearing. Spend time
with Jesus in the word, but also in spirit. It is the spirit that reveals the
mysteries of Christ to us, and you don’t always have a Bible handy. Just being
in the word is bad advice to someone where they are persecuted for having one,
yet how do they know so much about Jesus? Could it be the same spirit that
Jesus gave them that he gave us? I am not saying do not read your Bible, read
it all you can, but be directed by the spirit. If you don’t have one handy,
remember Jesus has written his word on your heart, so it is always available by
the spirit. Read Psalm 1, then do it.
I once asked a man who had highlighted almost all of his Bible why he did
it? “It seemed important enough to be remembered at the time,” I carry the same
highlights in my heart. Readable in the dark, when riding, while even in
church. Maybe knowing Jesus is just as simple as not having too many buttons on
the dash, and why so many I know are fleeing big churches, and finding what they
need in small groups or home fellowship. Still confused or looking, go back to
the basics. Get back to Jesus. It started with him, did he get lost in the
shuffle? Or did we? Give me a radio with on/off volume and a few presets.
Keep it simple like my religion, and watch me enjoy it more. Jesus told us “he
who has an ear let him hear.” Whether on AM, FM, satellite or CD, Jesus’
message is always the same. So keep the gospel simple as it was designed and
free so it is affordable. Keep Jesus as the main thing, technology changes,
Jesus never does. And refer to the owner’s manual he has given you regularly.
Right there on page 1 it tells the truth, “in the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.” If you can’t get past that, you will have problems with
everything else. Religion may give you many buttons to push, only by the spirit
will you know which one. If it works for women who know nothing about cars,
imagine what it can do for those of you who do.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com