Road Rage
I have a saying I
tell myself and others as the occasion warrants; “Driving a car is
like looking at yourself in the mirror”.
Mirrors have a long
history, ancients thought mirrors were portals to the supernatural so
their use in divination became widespread around the globe. They were
used throughout the ages by the wealthy to help them enhance their
beauty. Today mirrors are a practical item in every home. They help
us prepare ourselves to greet the world outside. Mirrors are many
times placed on the inside of entrances not just for decoration but
as reminders of how we appear to others. Most of us make use of
mirrors in private. Men shave, women apply makeup all in the privacy
of our own space. Most of us drive our cars alone, as it were, in
private and it is in private that we usually see ourselves as we
truly are.
This is what I mean
when I say that, “Driving a car is like looking at yourself in the
mirror”. Whenever I go driving I can’t believe how many idiots
and jerks are on the road! It seems to me that wherever I go the road
is full of jerks in front of me and idiots behind me. Why can’t
they just drive the way they’re supposed to? Or in other words, why
can’t they drive just like me? After all isn’t my level of
driving the best? Do you see now why I say that driving a car is like
looking in a mirror? Let me add this, all the licensed drivers on the
road have just as much right to be there as I do.
James 1:22-25
But be doers of the
word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a
hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks
intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and
goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks
into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no
hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his
doing.
When we look in a
mirror it is usually for the purpose of making a correction, brushing
our hair or straightening a tie. As I said, men shave and women apply
make up. James is telling us that just hearing the word and not doing
the word is like looking in the mirror, forgetting what you saw
without making corrections. Applying this to my story about driving,
when I see the driving of all those jerks and idiots I would have to
say that I am passing judgment on their driving skills. Right? I am
using my standard of driving to evaluate everyone else on the road.
My reaction to others on the road is a reflection (like a mirror) of
what is in my heart. As a Christian I am uncomfortable with that.
First, I hate being angry at strangers on the highway. Second, Where
does this rage come from? Third, What can I do about it? I would like
to make corrections.
James 4:1-4
What causes quarrels
and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions
are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You
covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have,
because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask
wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you
not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Ouch! Is James
really telling me that my driving behavior (judging everyone else on
the road) is like being an enemy of God! My desires are at war within
me. I want everyone on the road to drive according to my standard or
at least according to my interpretation of the driving laws. I have
set myself up as the standard and justify it by my condemnation of
everyone else on the road. Ouch! I am upset with other people’s
driving but I hardly notice the condemnation that is in my heart
toward other people, people made in God’s image, people just like
me.
Matt 7: 3-5
Why do you see the
speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that
is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me
take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own
eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
My condemnation of
others and my unnoticed hypocrisy are the products of misplaced
passions. I am in love with my own driving skill and my own judgment
of others. James says that is enmity with God. I am opposing God when
I should be embracing Him. Ouch!
So what can I do
about it?
Heb 10:24
And let us consider
how to stir up one another to love and good works,
I love this verse
from Hebrews. It asks me to make use of a part of my mind that in
today’s world we hardly notice anymore. It asks me to “consider”.
I looked up the word consider in a thesaurus and here are some
synonyms; contemplate, examine, study, meditate, ponder, ruminate.
Scripture is asking me not to just think about this but to think hard
and long. It asks me not only to consider but to “consider how”.
I have found that when I ask questions of myself (like looking in a
mirror) I usually ask questions like, “Why did you do that?”. My
usual response to myself is, “Because you’re an idiot”. Not
very helpful. I know that already, I’ve looked in the mirror
remember? Hebrews asks us “how”, consider how. How can I change
my experience on the road? How can I communicate to a stranger’s
private space while driving down the road. Is there something I can
do that will make a difference? How can I stir up others to love and
good works?
Remember. (a word
very similar to ‘consider’) Remember that everyone else on the
road has just as much right to be there as you do. Remember that your
anger won’t change the others drivers behavior. Remember you are in
public. Driving in your car seems like you are in your private
personal space but that is an illusion. You are actually on a public
road that you must share it with others regardless of how they choose
to drive. As a Christian this is an opportunity to display the love
of God to those around you. What would that look like? Your travel
time; give yourself extra time. You don’t want time constraints to
bring frustration and anger into your drive. Give others preference.
Let others go first. This is a basic Christian principle. 1
Corinthians 9:19 says, “For though I am free from all, I have made
myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them”. Servant of
all, as you drive down the road remember you are a servant. Drive
accordingly.
I would suggest that
your drive can become for you a freedom and a blessing instead of a
rat race. You have the power to look in this mirror and make the
adjustments needed. This is where I hope you are “stirred up”.
That you accept the challenge to drive with the love of Christ in
your heart and demonstrate that by preferring others before yourself.
Turn your commute into an act of worship instead of an act of
hypocrisy.
Helpful references:
Romans 12:10
10 Love one another
with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Philippians 2:4
4 Let each of you
look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of
others.
1 John 4:20
20 If anyone says,
“I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who
does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he
has not seen.
1 Corinthians 9:19
19 For though I am
free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win
more of them.
Road rage in the
news…
August 4 2017 Around
2 a.m., officials say Michael McCaskey, 64, of Kellyville, Okla., was
driving westbound on the Turner Turnpike near Luther, when he swerved
in front of a semi-truck.
An Oklahoma County
jury chose to punish Samuel Max Powell, 45, with life in prison.
Police reported the
shooting occurred about 7:45 p.m. Jan. 8, 2015, in south Oklahoma
City.
“You messed with
the wrong white guy, Mexican,” Assistant District Attorney Lori
McConnell said, quoting a witness who testified during the trial.
May 26, 2017
Thirty-one-year-old
Lawrence Finn of Pettigrew remained in jail Friday on a charge of
second-degree murder. Arkansas State Police described the death
Wednesday of 41-year-old Jason Miller of Alma as the result of a
road-rage incident along Interstate 40 near the Oklahoma line.
OKLAHOMA CITY - The
defendant in the road rage murder trial David Bloebaum has been found
guilty of the first-degree murder and the jury has recommended he
serve life in prison.
Bloebaum was accused
of gunning down 29-year-old Jason Yousif after a road rage incident
in the parking lot of a Super Target near Penn and Memorial back in
September 2012.
