Automotive Theology

I find myself sometimes fascinated by the stuff we use to show what we think of things. It's not hard to find someone who wears a shirt displaying the logo of his favorite team. I do that too. Cars seem to be particularly open to personalization. Many people like to preach their beliefs from the stickers on their cars. I still haven't quite figured out what the naked lady mudflaps on trucks are supposed to be about though.

Here in the buckle of the Bible Belt it's not hard to find a fish on lots of people's cars. Presumably, this means that the driver is proud to be a Christian. Great! A few years back there was a counter to the fish in the form of a fish with feet that read "Darwin" in the middle. This was kind of funny if you don't get too easily offended. Then the Christians decided to strike back with a fish that reads "Truth" swallowing up the Darwin fish.

I have a pastor that preaches very well on this. What are we saying when we have this kind of thing on our cars? If we believe the gospel then we know we're right. Why do we need to brag about it? Is someone with a Darwin fish going to look at this truth fish and think, "Hmmm, I never considered that his fish is bigger than my fish. Maybe I should give Jesus a chance." Of course not. Instead, it's going to be another example of how arrogant and judgemental Christians seem to be.

I've also heard it said that you've got to be careful about wearing your faith on your car, especially if you ever make a mistake while driving. I like to think of myself as a fairly courteous driver, but I make mistakes. I also have times when I'm in a hurry. There's no way to say, "My 2 1/2 year old has to go potty", so people just think I'm driving like a jerk. Putting a fish on my car probably won't help to advance the gospel.