Traveling companions.

Presumptive Statement 3:

Life is like riding in a car. Your traveling companions will influence the journey.

Bible Reference:

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

1 Corinthians 15: 33, ESV

Years ago I read an article or book about church staff leadership. A well-known pastor and author wrote about his experiences recruiting, supervising, and leading a multi-staff congregation. One of his interview procedures raised a lot of comment but struck a responsive note in many of his pastor colleagues. Screening ministry staff candidates involved the usual processes of personal data, background checks, education, prior service, and references. Before a final decision was made he and the candidate went to lunch in an eating establishment an hour and a half distance from the church, maybe a hundred miles. He said he learned all he needed to know about that candidate while they were in the car. You see, life is like riding in a car. Our traveling companions can surely influence the journey.

Well, duh!!! It's not such a recent revelation, the way the people in our inner circles affect us. Who can forget the scolding instruction of our parents to exercise care in choosing our childhood friends? Or, all of the elementary conduct training that attended those school years? Even more, if having standards about personal relationships isn't a significant life discipline then go ahead and black mark large segments of Scripture, especially Solomon's Proverbs. He certainly understood the lure and power other people exerted on him. All of his writings are glimpses of his personal highs and lows as other people weighed on him. He wrote, "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm" (Proverbs 13: 20, ESV), and hundreds more.

Get real about this friend thing. Life thrusts all of us into relational jeopardy at times. Every relationship isn't made in heaven. There are acquaintances, family, work partners, neighbors, even people in the next pew, and social media friends who aren't going to fit into our closest and most intimate networking. Our emotional and spiritual maturity should equip us to the resist the ever-present crowds and the influence of more distant people. Do a Bible survey of verses about pleasing God and not men (Galatians 1: 10;

1 Thessalonians 2: 4; and Colossians 3: 23; for example). And, Scripture provides ample instruction about how we should engage the many other people in our broadest circle. A favorite is the Infographic by Jeffrey Kranz about the One Another passages of the Bible. Click here for this very informative piece. Here. we're not talking about those people on the edges of daily life. The topic in this instance is those up close to us, the people with the potential to shape our responses to life, our more constant traveling companions.

Being careful about choosing friends is one of those ethical and moral standards set aside by more diverse and accepting times. Inclusiveness has become a central theme in every relational situation. Reading Jim Collins Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Other Don't (Harper Collins, 2001) several years ago reminded me of this misplaced relational dynamic. The book was an instant best-seller, bringing raves of application in the business world and beyond. One chapter related the importance of having the right people on your bus in the business world. It was a fresh expression of our eternal vision to have the right companions traveling with us.

Because, life in like riding in a car. Your traveling companions will influence the journey.

One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them

astray.

Proverbs 12: 26, ESV

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you

learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

Proverbs 22: 24-25, ESV

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Direction

Presumptive Statement 2:

Life is like driving a car. If you stare at the rear view mirror you'll drive in a ditch.

Scripture Reference: Philippians 3: 12-14, ESV

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

OK, I'll be the first to admit the confusing life dynamics of advancing age. After this Covid 19 virus I'm in a period of shrinkage. Managing my waist dimensions has always been a challenge, every day being ruled by thirty-two sweet teeth and a craving for carbs. So, the baggy pants and sagging shirts are somewhat of a blessing, though engineered by some miserable days. Suddenly, however, I'm two inches shorter, my feet are smaller and wider, and let's don't talk about needing some help hauling a crate of water from the trunk to the house. It's a reversal of human growth systems which I suppose are a natural part of this aging thing. Oh, and put an asterisk out there beside the mental capacities, especially those memory synapses. You know, football season is like that sometimes...

Truth is, reversals are part of the deal. Complex times, personal hardship, the obstacles and tests of living in a broken world, and so many other uncertainties distract us physically, emotionally, and sometimes spiritually. They often shift our attention away from the moment or from our life destination, resulting in a loss of direction. Analyzing, evaluating, and correcting the past can move us off course in the important relational and missional elements of life. Sure, who doesn't need to learn from the past. But, an unhealthy fixation on the rear-view mirror can cause us to drive in a ditch, or worse. I mean, simple as it may sound, everything in that vehicle is designed for forward motion. In all the windshields and windows that little rear-view mirror is usually our only visual backward reference, even with the new camera action. There's only one reverse gear and everything else faces forward.

Scripture portrays our spiritual experiences in terms of personal growth and forward movement. There are always dark hours which cloud the way at times. But, spiritual growth should enable us to comprehend what God is doing in our lives at the moment, and anticipate the fullness of his life destination in the future. Sadly, popular, contemporary faith is often periodic and momentary, immature on a broad scale. Somewhere in the past two thousand years the imperatives of a growing spiritual life---consistent worship, Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and service have been seconded by church activity and busyness rather than the clear expectations of biblical faith. Suddenly we're a nation of spiritual infants struggling with the physical and emotional complexities of life.

The Apostle Paul's personal testimony in Philippians 3 and his many other Bible references is that this Christian growth is a lifetime spiritual pursuit. Rather than living in the past, we move forward in faith. Simon Peter wrote, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen" (2 Peter 3: 18, ESV). The past is back there real as can be.

But, like the rear view mirror, it only requires an occasional glance.

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Like Driving a Car

So, there are hundreds of "life is like..." comparisons. .

Forrest Gump: life is like a box of chocolates, your never know what you'll get.

Albert Einstein: life is like a bicycle, to keep your balance you have to keep moving.

My grandmother: life is like a tea bag, it isn't worth much until it's in some hot water.

Lucy: life is like traveling on a cruise ship. Some people unfold their deck chair on the

back of the ship to see where they've been; some people unfold their deck chair at

mid-ship to see where they are; and some people unfold their deck chair at the front

of the ship to see where they are going. Charlie Brown said he was still trying to

unfold his deck chair.

Unknown: life is like an elevator. On your way up sometimes you have to stop and let

some people off.

My personal take is that life is like driving a car, with many resulting distinctions. So, that will be the drill this week, reflecting on five of them. Each will begin with a presumptive statement to make the life/car connection.

Presumptive Statement 1:

Life is like driving a car. If you don't have a destination, you'll never get there.

Scripture Reference: Joshua 24: 15, ESV

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Israel took many wrong turns in their journey to occupy the land God had given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the nation. As God finally prepared Joshua to lead them into the Land of Promise he told them they needed to settle the matter of their destination once and for all. They had wandered aimlessly in the wilderness for forty years. In this verse God narrowed their choices to three spiritual decisions: they could travel the way of their past; their destination could be dictated by the world around them; or, they could they could live the victorious life God had planned for them. There were, of course, many requirements in this directional course, principles and precepts of submission, faith, and obedience. Just the same, he had promised them all they would need to live the life he had planned for them. His destination was clear. So were his counsel and guidance and provision.

Many cultural observers would agree that Americans are living in wavering, uncertain times. The recent election magnified our political division and few will argue that our spiritual status nationally is less defined than any time in our history. Even in the evangelical Christian community there are few distinct lines of belief. Strategists affirm a time of spiritual grayness where most of us believe a little of this and a little of that. Meaning that, we're adrift.

The answer? Well, there are many. Prayer is a strong unifying point. Every day I am reminded of the counsel God gave the historian---

"...if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my

face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive

their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7: 14, ESV

On a more personal level, there are the words God gave to Joshua. Each of us must choose our destination in life. Without a destination, we will never get there.

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