Jesus Fish

Last weekend, I parked the Barbie Jeep in the grocery store parking lot, looked both ways, and was nearly sideswiped by a blue-haired old lady in a dented Nissan. After the obligatory two-second check to make sure all appendages were still attached, I looked back at the lady, who threw her hands up in the air and, if my rudimentary lipreading was indeed correct, cursed me and the woman that bore me. The Nissan then pealed off, startling a woman maneuvering a stroller out of the store, and landed in a handicapped parking spot. I couldn't help but notice the shiny Jesus fish prominently displayed on the trunk.

I don't profess to know the ways of the Almighty, but vehicular manslaughter is probably not one of the things Jesus Would Do.

Call me jaded, call me (gasp) unChristian, but I've begun to draw distinct relationships between how Christian someone says s/he is and how Christian s/he acts. It seems to me the more someone protests to be godly, the more leeway they allow themselves in actually acting that way. A recent experience on I-95 cemented this theory when a car displaying five Jesus fish--

Really? Does five make you extra-extra-Christian? Faith isn't Kentucky Fried Chicken, folks--

cut my mother-in-law off when we were trying to exit the interstate. Another experience featured a person spouting hate speech about homosexuals peppered with biblical verses taken out of context.

A Jesus fish is not a get-out-of-hell-free card.

Maybe it's just me, but I think the world would be a much better place if people started viewing their faith as a calling rather than celebrating it as a trophy. In the end, it's more about what you take into your heart than what you display on your car.