What I Learned From A Traffic Accident

One morning I happened to be driving in the right hand lane when one of those huge earth hauling trucks was attempting a right turn from the center lane. His huge tire did a number on my right front fender before he was able to stop. I won’t go into all the details except to say neither of us was cited by the policeman who took the report. To be honest about it I probably should have been aware of what he was trying to do and shouldn’t have pulled into that right lane. In other words, I was probably at fault because of inattention (don’t tell my insurance agent I said that!) Yielding to popular stereotypes I pictured this burly truck driver chewing me out and saying “I cant turn this thing on a dime, you know!”  Well, he was burly, and he was also confident that he wasn’t at fault, but he didn’t chew me out. Instead, before he left the scene he said “I’m sorry about your truck.”  That took all the wind out of my sails. I hadn’t expected any gentleness or compassion from a driver of one of those monster rigs. The entire scene was changed by his gentle attitude.

I got to thinking about Jesus’ frequent words on gentleness. You know, all those things Christians are maligned for believing; “Turn the other cheek,” “Do good to those who mistreat you,” etc. We often find ourselves thinking that such conduct just isn’t practical in a modern world. So Christians are just as quick to lose their tempers and jockey for an emotional position as anyone else. But it struck me that my stereotype of this man was wrong. His attitude disarmed me and made civil discourse possible. If this works for truck drivers, I thought, why won’t it work for everyone? The truth is, it will. Oh, it won’t always make you come out a “winner.”  Neither will it always disarm the situation and turn everyone into gentle people. Butt its presence does really amazing things. Not the least of those things is what it will  do for your reputation. And whether you want to admit it or not your reputation is important. It tells people who you are. Maybe I should put it like this: it tells people whose you are. Jesus thought that was one of the most important things we could communicate to people, because if we are going to be successful in introducing people to the One who made a difference in us they must first see a difference in us. Happy motoring!