This week I’m stepping into the unknown. I’m heading to Nashville. Nope, no big record deal and no plans for the Grand Ole Opry. I’m going to drop in on an elite group of automotive enthusiasts: The Sunbeam Owners Club is gathering for their annual national convention. I own a Sunbeam Alpine but I’m a total novice when it comes to this niche of British sports car. If you’ve followed my writing, you were along for the ride when I rescued a ‘67 roadster from a friend’s barn. After washing away years of dust and bird droppings I found a great little car in need of a lot of TLC. Six months of tinkering and it’s almost ready to drive—just a few more tweaks and my hair will be blowing in the wind… both of them. However, I’m still not a seasoned Sunbeam owner; I’m a newbie, a rookie.
In the past, I’ve been an insider; an aficionado. Once a restorer of American muscle cars, I was regularly employed to restore and provide investment advice. That was then, and this is now. You see, the Sunbeam crowd is a totally different group than the muscle car crowd. My Sunbeam was built in England and it reflects that culture. It’s a tiny car built to navigate narrow, cobblestone streets in quaint villages; a petrol-sipping light-weight, no-nonsense automobile with its own charm and its own idiosyncrasies.
Working on cars for years, I’ve discovered the best way to know what the pros know, is to go where the pros go. I invade their camp, so to speak. So, I’m not going to Nashville to celebrate my Sunbeam ownership; I’m going because that’s where the experienced Sunbeam owners are celebrating. I’ll not try to impress them with my experience, but to absorb theirs—to be a fly on the wall, a quiet guest that flits around the fringe, eavesdropping on their conversations, learning from their stories. I’ll be stealthy, naïve, open to their culture. I have an agenda and it’s not to impress them, but to press them for what they know. I want to make the most of their experience, to learn how they solve the problems unique to the Sunbeam sports car. I’ll study their culture, discover which manufacturers make the best replacement parts… and hopefully learn how to tune these tricky twin Stromberg carburetors.
Living the Christian life is really no different. The best way to know what the pros know is to go where the pros go. As a professional pastor, I’m often disappointed by the mindset of the Christian culture at large that seems to insist, “I’m different. Special. I don’t have to follow the same moral guidelines that Christians have followed for centuries in order to survive spiritually in this world.” They seem to be saying, “I’m betting God understands I have special needs and desires that prevent me from living a separated life from the world. Sure, I’m not perfect, but God understands.”
May I offer you some seasoned advice? There are no shortcuts to living a Christ-like life. It requires a commitment to holy living. We must “go where the Lord goes in order to know what the Lord knows.” If the power and presence of Christ seems to elude you, it may be because Jesus doesn’t hang out where you insist on hanging. Stop telling God what you need and begin seeking what He desires. Go where He is and learn what He knows. Hang out in the Bible. Walk and talk with Jesus. Attend church regularly, and become active in a Life Group Bible Study.
“He wants all of you to learn to control your own bodies. You must live in a way that is holy. You must live with honor.” I Thessalonians 4:4
And I love this grace-laden verse that calls us to higher levels of holiness…
“May more and more grace and peace be given to you. May they come to you as you learn more about God and about Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2
Lord, help me to know You. Help me to live a more holy life. Show me your ways, expose my wasted ways and teach me to walk in the way everlasting. Amen.