2007-01-26 - A Motorcycle in Manhattan

1 John 1:3, "So that you may have fellowship with us."

This past Saturday (1-20-07) I was in Manhattan for a motorcycle show. It was interesting in many ways. One of the things that I guess I should have figured on, but hadn't really crossed my mind was the girls in bikini's modeling the bikes (or was it the bikes modeling the girls). At one point I tapped a guy on the shoulder who was more interested, it seemed, in the girl than the bike and said, "You know she doesn't come with the bike." Well, I didn't do that, but I probably should have.

One thing that is interesting is that people live for this kind of stuff. There were lots of motorcycle clubs wearing their colors. There were lots of young people getting excited about custom bikes that were so custom designed that they were not only not street legal, but they would also be impossible to ride. They were like $50,000 nick-knacks for a garage. I also thought it was interesting that the booth for the Hell's Angles was three times the size of the one for the CMA (Christian Motorcycle Association), and that the CMA booth was right next to the Jewish Motorcycle Association booth. I don't believe there were any fights. They probably just quoted verses to/at each other.

As I said above people live for this. The other day I was walking in Philadelphia and someone stopped to talk to me while he was riding, with his wife, a very nice Harley Davidson motorcycle. We talked for a while, he got distracted and I commented to his wife that they had a very nice machine. She leaned over and whispered, "We can't afford it." But they do, and I am sure that they make sacrifices in lots of areas to be able to afford having such a status symbol.

The obvious direction of this is to ask you what you are living for. What is it that drives you forward when you get up in the morning? What is it that you really live for? We can't all be in full time ministry, so when you go to work, what is your end zone? Is it the glory of God? Can you be a nurse, mechanic, cashier, or an insurance agent to the glory of God? Yes, you can, and regardless of what your particular call is, you are called to do it to God's glory. You may work a particular job, but in that job you represent something much greater than the job. You represent your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and in that job, no matter what it is, you seek to serve Him first and foremost.

You might say to me, "That sounds nice in theory, but try living it out day to day." I agree, and that is why it is so important to never forsake the fellowship of other believers. Fellowship is like a motorcycle show once, or several times a week. It is where we get together with people who have common interests, and common desires and encourage each other. That is really what was going on at the show on Saturday in Manhattan. It was a bunch of like-minded people getting together in an area that they had in common.

Our fellowship with the saints should be similar. When the motorcyclists left the show on Saturday they went back out into a car world that doesn't understand them and often hates them. When a Christian leaves the fellowship of the saints he/she goes out into a world that doesn't understand them and often hates them. We need each other. We need fellowship and we need to seek to encourage each other in Christ. We may not all ride a motorcycle (I do) but we can all apply the analogy to ourselves.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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