Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president

While driving around the conference I witnessed an individual who decided the rules of the road did not apply to them.

Now I must admit, I don’t like being cut off in traffic any more than the next person. It is frustrating to have someone speed through traffic, weaving in and out as though arriving at their destination is more important than you arriving at yours. I also must say that it is frustrating when someone is camping in the HOV lane going 5 or 10 miles an hour below the speed limit. (Can you tell I drive a lot?)

I have seen all manner of bad behavior on the road.

Having said that, I have no problem letting someone in when they are trying to turn in from a side road or merge when a lane ends. I appreciate good road manners and common courtesy towards myself and like to extend that courtesy to others as well.

Back to the story.

As the two turn lanes were patiently waiting in a very long line for the light to change, someone decided the line was just too long to wait in. They raced to the front of the line and promptly turned their signal light on as they turned a non-turning lane into their personal turn lane.

You could almost feel the tension coming from the other two turn lanes as everyone seemed to silently communicate with the other drivers. A wall of resistance was built. It would not allow this interloper to have their way. It was like we were all saying at the same time,

The light turned green, and the rule breaker tried to find an opening. There wasn’t one to be found until a single kind soul way in the back of the line broke ranks and let them in. The kind soul was willing to forgive the other person’s rudeness and let life go on without stressing over it.

Dare we say that the kind soul may have been following the advice of scripture more than the others in that line?

Our world is a tough place with tough attitudes towards unruly behaviors. How do we as Christians relate to others in the world today? The book Culture Wars shares studies by multiple researchers that found

George Barna, a Christian researcher, also found that

I would like to say, “You can’t be serious,” but I fear their research is accurate. Maybe Christians are saying this about the teachings of Jesus.

“Jesus, you can’t be serious that we are supposed to love our neighbor.”

“Jesus, you can’t be serious that we are supposed to be kind to those who are unkind.”

“Jesus, you can’t be serious that we should let the rude driver in even though they don’t deserve it.”

“You mean we really are supposed to turn the other cheek? Jesus, you can’t be serious.”

I am pretty sure that Jesus was, in fact, serious.

I am also pretty sure that if every Christian lived out their life as Jesus did, we would impact the world in such a way that every person in the world would be influenced by the life and teachings of Jesus.

Let’s be serious about following Jesus and as we all unite in Pentecost 2025. We will see a transformation in our lives and the lives of our churches that will make an unforgettable impact in our conference.