The car in front of me was slow as molasses…until we reached the passing zone, that is. I don’t know why this always seems to happen, but it does every week. The car in front of me unfailingly drives ten miles per hour below the posted limit until we reach a passing zone, at which time it lurches forward to speeds unreachable in a 1996 Volkswagen Golf. It only begins to decelerate into the realm of molasses well after the double yellow lines have appeared.
I don’t know about you, but that irritates me. If the person was speeding, they wouldn’t interfere with me. In fact, they would vanish on the road in front of me. If the person were driving slowly, I’d simply pass them and watch them vanish in my rear-view mirror. The real problem is the lack of consistency.
Nobody likes inconsistency—and that includes Jesus. He said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)
We could all stand to improve our consistency. We can be more consistent in our treatment of others (James 2:9), our standards of holiness (Titus 1:15), and our building up of God’s family (Hebrews 10:24). This week, let’s all work on making our lives more consistent with our calling. Let’s be more believable believers!