While stopped at an intersection, with a light that cycles through four different directions before it is your turn to move, Pilot and I had the misfortune to be stuck next to three middle-aged motorcyclists on Harley Davidsons. You know, loud pipes save lives.

Pilot owns a motorcycle. I’ve ridden a dirt bike, on which I used a small tree to stop my forward progress one time. Pilot and I have cruised Main Street during Bike Week in Daytona, Florida.(Fully clothed, I should add.) We have helped park bikes during a Christian outreach, in a church parking lot outside Daytona, while the owners of said bikes frequented the famous Pub 44 next door.

All that to say, I am not anti-motorcycle.

But these guys sure pushed the limits. People like that are part of what gives motorcyclists a bad name. Three hours after the encounter with these guys, my left ear STILL hurts, and is ringing.

One of these brilliant men thought it his duty? job? right? to sit through the light and rev the motor of his bike to an eardrum-busting decibel. Not just once, or twice, but through the entire time the light was red. It’s a long light.

If the light had not changed when it did, I really think I may have rolled down my window and told the guy, we get it. You’ve got a Harley, and have to keep revving the motor to keep your bike from dying on you. I did say that exact sentiment with the window up, but had my hand, ready, on the window button, just in case.

Probably a good thing the light changed when it did.

To top all this off, when the light did change, the bikers went straight across the intersection, even though they were in one of the left turn only lanes.

Like I said. I am not anti-motorcycle. Just anti-rude.

So, I’m thinking…Are we ever like these bikers whose behavior can give other motorcyclists a bad name?

Growing up, the father of a friend of mine used to tell her to remember she was an ambassador for the family. What people saw in her, reflected back on her family. Reflected back on her father. Good or bad.

Isn’t that what those of us who follow Christ are called to be? Ambassadors. What people see in us reflects back on our family. Reflects back on our Heavenly Father. Good or bad.

Just as the actions of those guys on their Harleys could give motorcyclists a bad name, we need to be mindful that our actions don’t give Christians a bad name. Maybe we need to remember our actions speak louder than words, at times.

I want to live so that everything I say and do points to Christ. How about you?

We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (TLB)

I wish you well,

Sandy

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