Red light. Grace light.
You are the second car at a red light. The light turns green and the person in front of you doesn’t move. What do you do?
Honk right away?
Wait for a few moments and then honk?
Let the people behind you do the honking for you?
Or, in my case, have your horn honked for you by the wonderful passenger to whom you’ve been married to for 20 years?
Truth and grace lie on a spectrum.
There are those of us, the quick honkers, who place a high value on truth. We proclaim boldly, point out errors clearly and are strong proponents of the counsel of Scripture that all must adhere to. At the crossroads and roadblocks of life, we seek the wisdom of these truth bearers.
Others, those deferring the proclamation of the horn, reside in a more relationally sensitive mode. These people are great burden-bearers, fantastic listeners and the type of friend you want to call first when your soul is hurting.
John 1 tells us that Jesus, God in the flesh, is both grace and truth. Not only was Jesus full of grace and truth, He is the way to gain access to these two desirable facets of life. Scripture clearly proclaims that grace and truth come through Jesus (John 1:17). Contrary to our best guesses, Jesus isn’t at the middle of the spectrum. Jesus is found at the both ends of the spectrum at the same time! He is fully truth. He is fully grace.
We all know what truth sounds like. We all know what grace feels like. But somehow, Jesus ushers both into our world. He is the one who can share truth with us that doesn’t make us want to run away. He is the horn that honks in such a way that the person in front of him doesn’t feel dumb or judged.
God whispered this phrase to me and it has revolutionized how I conceptually, practically and relationally understand grace and truth:
“Truth sees people as they really are–grace draws them closer.”
Ungodly, ungracious truth places a magnifying glass on the lives of people and haughtily declares, “Aha! That’s who you are! Those are your actions, here are your motives and that’s you in a nutshell.”
In my life, I’ve used truth to push people away from me. Once I’ve figured someone out, I have the needed excuse and permission granted to not get too close to them. The declaration of truth can be a means for keeping people at arms length so we don’t have to connect with them. As they say in sports, “The best defense is a good offense.” In our sin, we reason that if we go at others with the truth, you won’t have to connect.
The problem is this: Jesus, full of grace and truth, knows us as we really are, but uses this knowledge not to create distance or disconnection, but to draw us closer to Him.
Contrary to almost every other relationship we experience in this life, Jesus uses His infinite knowledge of us to run towards us–not away from us. Jesus knows us completely and perfectly, yet longs to be close to us. He is the Great Shepherd of Ezekiel 34 who is in pursuit of His lost sheep: us!
As a follower of Jesus, as a disciple of Jesus, we too should seek to be full of grace and truth. We too should be ready to declare and proclaim truth to the people around us, but also draw close in the strength of God’s grace. Not honking our horns in prideful truth-telling or using grace as an excuse to avoid those moments when a horn is needed. We need to be ready with open arms to embrace the brokenness, sinfulness and shortcomings in the fellow sinners that we are encounter on the road of life or find ourselves stuck behind at a green light.
How have you seen or felt God’s perfect grace and truth in your life? Who do you need to show grace and truth to today?
Read an earlier post by Craig here.
I wait till the front car moves!!!
I wait because personally that honk people do can ruin someone’s day
Hey! I got it right! But I wouldn’t mind having someone in the other seat doing that. 🙂
Just wait
I definitely do not honk my horn because that is one of my greatest “pet” peeves!!!
I HONK!!!
I agree with Rhonda. I think Honking is such a rude thing to do. It may be God keeping you from something that lies ahead.
If I could go around him, I would be arrogant enough not to trust he had a good reason to stop. If I honked, it might wake him up but it might be futile too.
I’d trust God and wait.
Wait. Tap the horn to get their attention.
I tap my fingers on the steering wheel and wait
Waiiiiiittttaaaaminute.. Then! Beeeeepppp.
Trochia check out my profile status so happy 🙂
Honk n wake um up…
Hit the turbo switch & jump over him!
It depends on the situation. Sometimes I wait paitently- if the driver is distracted I may beep my horn after waiting 10 or 15 seconds. I have missed an entire light cycle because the driver at the GREEN light was so distracted that the car never moved. If I am running late for something and I can move around the driver I will do that.
Honk….
wait.., but honk!!
Get out and ask if the person is alright.
Depends on where you are. In New York city everyone will stand on their horn.
start praying lord move this car amen
Rather…what do you do if you are car #5?
obviously,wait till he moves……
honk !!!!
Wait n honk~
wait a min.or two then a slight beep on the horn.
wait…. Not honking our horns in prideful truth-telling or using grace as an excuse to avoid those moments when a horn is needed. We need to be ready with open arms to embrace the brokenness, sinfulness and shortcomings in the fellow sinners that we are encounter on the road of life or find ourselves stuck behind at a green light. This is a great statement.
Pray and God to move this car….in Jesus name
honk my horn
give a second and hit the horn
Wait .
Be patient
Cuss
AMEN
Look around, there may be a good reason for him not to go on…there could be something else going on, that you can’t see…
Wait !
Wait patiently!
wait a second then honk honk
wait then beep.
Wait and beep
Wait and then Beep the horn!
Tell them to stop texting!
you wait
WAIT PATIENTLY .
Sad to say but im impatient…..Id honk the horn!
Amen!!!
Good answer!!!
Amen Just Wait!!!
wait, patiently,,eventually they will put their phone down
I wait and know that God will give you patience.
Depends on my mood, or if I’m in a hurry.
be patient…I don’t believe in road rage
get into the next avalable lane. but first i would ask them if they needed help
Wait a minute until he or she gets off the cellphone and realizes he/she has a car behind that needs to go……
Wait patiently
wait
pull up to the stop and STOP… wait for my turn… duh
Beep the horn
Beep-Beep!
Wait a several seconds before beeping my horn.
wait wait & wait.
Wait till he moves
A polite short “beep beep”.
I would say lean on the horn but if they can’t hear it then what?
HONK, HONK !!!!!! lf l am in a hurry..
If you are in Atlanta, we have the 5 second rule. You get 5 seconds to respond and then we blow the horn……..
blow the horn
wait
depends on how long it didn’t move
blow the horn
used to blow horn now I wait
WAIT !
WAIT
Wait. Check to see what the problem is. No problem blow your horn. You never know it could be a medical emergency or NOT.
I give them a second, or 2, and then I toot the horn 2 wake them up!
i think there on there cell again i just tap the horn and wait lol
Wait for a few minutes and then honk!
Wait..
Csn not stand to be honked at.
Pray that I keep JESUS in front of me!
HONK AT THEM
Be patient and observe…
Wate then beep the horn
what Gemma said.
honk my horn, and give some unkindly hand gestures….
Depends on how long u have to be there, patience is a quality people need to learn
damwoman
I would patiently wait at first but if it took too long then I’d beep but the whole time I’d be watching them to see if there is a problem too. You never know if or when a person will have an emergency.
I have to laugh the other day other people did the honking actually it usually is someone else doing the honking before I will honk. Unless I can tell the person isn’t really paying attention like messing with their cell phone.
Be patient.
You continue to stop, and honk at him.
wait
Wait what else !
honk ,since they may not be watching the light.
I imagine that my car has a rocket launcher set inside the headlights. I press the red button on my gearshift and watch the fireworks. Then i figure that’s about enough time, and then i “Honk”.
honk
wait a bit , if nothing lightly touch my horn.
lol to Stanley, funny. Wonder if he drives in Miami.
wait a while, then honk ….
Wait a few seconds and then honk my car.
Gemma is right but I like Stanley’s answer better.
Wait, then go around if I can
wait!
Be patient,like i would want someone to be, if that was me.
Wait.
honk my horn
wait
I wait. There is no reason to blare the horn. It is only an extension of something wrong in our souls.
use bad words and get out of mycar ans say
wtf is your problem
A light tap on the horn, No movement, backup and go around them. Glance in the vehicle as you pass to see if they are all right.
I usually just wait…but then the cars behind me start honking
Honk
Wait. Don’t like when people lay on the horn.
i will just wait,anyway i’m just the second car approaching traffic lights,have your patient all the time
Say to myself – come on buddy move it.
take a deep breath and say a prayer keep passive!
Wait Patiently !
Gently honk the horn as they maybe distracted by something or someone.
Give them a few seconds, then remind them the light is green buy honking.
Wait no one was going any were
Get out of the car go to the car in front of me and ask him if he knows a good pizza shop.
beep
Wait?????
I wait a few seconds and then beep my horn in case they’re texting and not paying attention.
Wait
Wait a couple of seconds and then honk the horn
beep my horn,time to go
I”LL WAIT TIL THE CAR MOVES…..YOU MIGHT GET SHOT!
Just wait a second, then beep beep beep
SIT ON THE HORN
I have learned to be more patient…you don’t know if that person is having a heart attack/stroke, just received news that a loved one has died, or they can see an ambulance or some other hazard that you can’t see. Sometimes the good Lord puts barriers in our way for a reason and sometimes they will save your life. 🙂
Wait
Once my husband was in that situation. He waited patiently but the car in front of him just sat there until the light turned red again. Getting a little impatient he thought SURELY they will go this time. The light turned green. The lady continued to sit there. He calmly got out of his truck, walked up to her car, tapped on her window and asked, “Exactly what shade of green are you waiting on?” Needless to say she got moving pretty quickly. True story.
Ill agree to this one.
Amen