Open Doors and Moving Cars

A couple times over the last few weeks, my kids have been in this bad habit of opening the car door before it has come to a full and complete stop. For some reason, I always go nuts when they do this because I can just picture one of them rolling out of the car and underneath the back tire…my wife would kill me for forgetting to lock the door. She is a religious door locker. The only time I lock the car doors is when I see a man (or woman) walking close to my car whom I don’t think I can take in a fight…which is most people. Getting back to the whole “opening the car door while the car is still moving” thing, I have attempted telling them the most horrifying story of the kid (who really doesn’t exist) who fell out of the car in an effort to scare them, but it didn’t work. I think I’ve determined what possesses them to open the car door prior to the car stopping – they are racing to be first…first out of the car, first to the garage door, first to do this, first to do that. Everything is in an effort to be better than the other.Are you familiar with this race? You want a bigger house, nicer car, larger bank account, and more clients so that you can be better in comparison to your friends. You are willing to go to great lengths for your kids to be #1 in their sports, academics, and other activities so that they can be the talk of the school. Even those in ministry get caught up in this race…bigger buildings, more people, and greater prestige. At the core, there is nothing wrong with building big buildings or attracting more people; however, when a leader does all of this for the sake of being better than the church down the street, his motives are wrong.Let’s quit trying to open the car door before the other and instead maybe try opening the door for someone else for once…after the car has stopped, of course.