street smart

I lived the first thirty-five years of my life apart from Jesus. In other words, once upon a time, I was a heathen. Oh yes. This puts me in a unique category. Statistically, only a blessed few come to Christ as adults; you can almost smell sulfurous vapors rising off the lot of us. Having dodged the Bullet of Bullets, wow, do we understand grace. We also understand people, sinners,"the lost and unsaved." We don’t judge. How can we? Look at us. We were a mess, too.

My status as a former heathen often has me feeling like a goat among churchier sheep. My “street” wisdom tends to raise a few eyebrows. For example, in a ladies bible study carpool, my fellow leaders get on the topic of sharing rides. I pipe in, “Years ago my friend Traci told me, ‘Never let another woman ride in the front seat next to your husband.’” They are all so sweet and kind and lovely and respectful and innocent, they have absolutely no idea what to do with my comment. The car is uncomfortably quiet until Mrs. Rosemary, a true Southern Lady and a proper Presbyterian, artfully changes the subject.

I try out Traci’s advice several times over the years on a variety of fellow carpoolers. It is never well received. My own husband laughs at me. Ladies are universally mystified. I watch them struggle against the implication that none of us can be trusted. What is she thinking? We’re on our way to church, for Pete’s sake. We’re all brothers and sisters; I completely get that. On the other hand, teachers of the law are supposed to live above suspicion, and Satan is on the prowl.

I have no idea where Traci was at spiritually. I was lost when we were friends, and she has since passed away. I do know that she shared her wisdom out of sisterly love, from experience. She was street smart. It’s a dark world out there; she knew this first-hand. Saved or unsaved, the world remains dark. Recent events in the lives of beloved Christian friends have proved, whether or not she was aware of biblical truth, Traci's words aligned with Scripture. Take the car as a metaphor for married life: a husband behind the wheel, his wife at his side. She should not forfeit her seat to another woman out of friendliness or to be polite, nor should she ride beside any husband other than her own. The car metaphor applies to every area of life. Adapt it for your circumstances at work, PTA meetings, worship band rehearsal, whatever. Take it from a former heathen who has seen the wisdom of these words proved both inside and outside the body of Christ. So what if it’s awkward. Better safe than sorry. Your marriage requires protection, and no one is in a better position to protect it than you. And as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral. ~ Hebrews 13:4

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