If he's an idiot, they're all idiots

Back in my radio days, we had a thing we called 'van etiquette'. When driving a station vehicle, we were to never, ever, be a knob in traffic. Since the call letters were plastered on the side of the van, bad driving reflected badly on the station.

It's like that with most things, I guess. I was bike commuting to work on Friday when another rider roared by me. Normally, it's a nice gesture to offer a quick hello---but this guy was on a cruise and said nothing. Kind of a knob move. He also was wearing his team shorts--something that readily identified him.

5 miles later, another guy blasted by with not so much as a hello. You guessed it. Same team. He was riding an unusual bike so I caught back up to him and asked him about it. He gave me a quick answer and I let him go. Now, based on my experience, 100% of the guys on that team are jerks.

If you're a Christian--and identified as such--what kind of trail are you leaving? In interactions with others, can you tend to be kind and graceful, or judgemental and jerky? Just like the two riders with their team name in huge block letters, if enough of us are idiots---all of us are idiots.

I'm certainly not suggesting we sugarcoat everything and roll over every time someone presents some kind of affront to us---but, if we're bent on reminding people of their weakness and sin, we're causing ears to slam shut and hearts to harden. Who wants anything of that?

More importantly, is the in-the-house you the same person who displays themselves in church settings? Are you the perfect picture of reverence during the service, doing all the right moves and motions while talking the talk, but your kids stare wide eyed at you from the back seat as you curse the slow driver on the way home? That's a terrible disconnection---and it affects them.

I could lead the parade of offenders some days. There are moments when I know I've blown it for us all and it hurts. Thankfully, those moments are becoming much fewer and farther between. Perhaps it comes from not being in the place where I need to 'act' like a Christian--it's because I am a follower of Christ.