LESSONS FROM THE AUTOBAHN

I am world famous for having a lead foot. It has always been hard for me to drive slow. Driving in a single lane behind someone who only wants to do 40 miles an hour has always felt something like having a tooth pulled. Worse yet is when someone drives slow in the passing lane. A sense of injustice overwhelms me as if an innocent person has been executed or land has been taken away by the government. Get out of the passing lane; It aint right!

I remember when the democrats moved the speed limit down to 55 on all national highways . Those were dark and terrible times for me. Then came the glorious day the republicans moved it back to 70. I had a party in the same way I think alcoholics did back when the prohibition ended.

A Need For Speed
Speed is dangerous, exhilarating, intoxicating and illegal beyond clearly set limits on every highway in the world. Every highway except one that is--The Autobahn.

Imagine a super highway designed for speed with thousands of miles of roadway where drivers can stand on their Porsches as fast as they want to. You might think this is Germany’s way of population control, but believe it or not it’s safe, even safer than the more conservative approach we have with our highway system. It seems to turn the premise that speed kills on it’s head. According to the World Wide Waste of time, The Autobahn has scored consistently lower in death rates than the US highway system for almost 20 years in a row now.

Sometimes, cars drive literally 200 miles an hour where traffic allows. In most places, typical cruising speeds for average drivers are between 80-90 miles an hour. That’s burning up the road on this side of the world but just heading to the store for some milk and eggs in Deutschland.

Drive Right
A big factor in its safety is a hardcore law that prohibits anyone driving in the passing lane unless they are actually passing somebody. The highways are patrolled and monitored not for speed but for improper use of the lanes.

While Germans are free to drive whatever speed they can, they are not free to drive in whichever lane they want to drive in. That is interesting to me. See you can drive fifty or one hundred and fifty on the Autobahn, but you can’t let your freedom cause someone else to have a wreck. You can’t drive fast in the slow lane causing people who want to drive slow to crash. You also can’t drive slow in the fast lane causing people who want to drive fast to crash. This is a responsible use of freedom, and I see Kingdom principles in this.

When it comes to the Autobahn or when it comes to life, you've got freedom. Jesus Christ offers us freedom, but you don’t use your freedom in a way that causes other people to get messed up. Yes, grace is real and so is the responsibility that goes with it.

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 8: 9 “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

Rock on Paul, and thanks for giving us the word.

Another issue in Germany, that every driver deals with, is the responsibility of knowing the difference between life and death. You see, when it comes to the speed limit, it is all legal. So in Germany, instead of asking if it is legal, which is never the question, you should be asking, “Is this going to kill me?” which is always the question.

So it is in the Kingdom. Cigarettes for example will not send you to Hell, it will just make you smell like it. Eating too much and eating whatever you want is perfectly legal in Christianity, but that freedom is supposed to bless us, not kill us. So the issue for us as Christians is not is it legal, because we are not under the law. The issue for us is, is this smart?, is this kingdom advancing?, or is this reckless and stupid?

Are we using our freedom in a way that trips up other people? Are we using our freedom as an excuse to go back into some kind of bondage? Is it freedom, or is it bondage? Is it living life, or is it choosing death? Those are real issues even though the legality of the matter is not an issue.

No person or nation can remain free very long without such practices becoming widely accepted by its citizens. The same warning applies to the abuse of our spiritual freedom in Christ. As the Apostle Paul said and repeated:
“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient” I Corinthians 6:12.

It’s all legal, but it is not all in our best interest. If our heart is after the King’s heart, we will make a choice that not only keeps us living but doesn't kill everybody else around us.

The Brewer pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and can be reached at www.opendoorministries.org