I recently lost one of the two keys to our Toyota mini-van, and the Lord didn’t reveal its location. I thought I could just go down to Home Depot and have another key made, but the associate there told me otherwise. He said that they have Toyota Blanks, but the key will only be able to get the outer door unlocked. If I put it in the ignition, the car can’t even be started!
It turns out that you have to have an authentic Toyota microchip key in order to drive the car. When the microchip in the head of the key comes close to the sensor near the ignition, the computer unlocks and allows you to start the car.
I guess there is a little value in having a key that gets you into the car only… if I lock the true key in the car, then I could use the valet key to get in without calling the Triple-A service. Actually, “valet key” is not the right term for this copied key, because a valet key can actually start and run the car. I will call the copy key the “fake key,” because the promise that is wrapped up in a real car key is that you will be able to use the car for something other than sitting in it or storing items within it.
Many who call themselves Christians give Jesus the fake key to their lives. The key allows Jesus to get inside the car and sit in a seat, but they don’t really want Jesus driving them around. After all, Jesus might drive them places where they do not want to go. He might drive too fast or two slow, or he might scrape the paint finish or even crash the car! They like Jesus well enough that he can come along for the ride, but they don’t trust Him well enough for Him to do the driving.
He might interfere with where they want to go in life!
Occasionally, I will drive past a police car that is parked on the side of the road. A sidelong glance reveals that the policeman in the driver’s seat is actually an inflatable balloon, designed to look like a policeman. I understand that the Police Department uses this decoy around town in different spots in order to affect a calming of traffic. When people see the “manned” police car, they are likely to slow down if they are speeding, and to be on their best behavior.
Perhaps you have an inflatable Jesus in your car? You blow him up with your own breath and place him in the driver’s seat when you park your car at Church. Those who drive or walk past see that Jesus is in the driver’s seat, and people think well of you. When it is time to leave Church, however, you look both ways before you get into the car, and then you reach in and throw the balloon Jesus into the back seat. You think to yourself, “I can’t get anywhere I really want to go with this Jesus in the driver’s seat!”
The balloon sits quietly in the back seat while you drive to Sin City. Catching a glimpse of the balloon’s eyes in the rear view mirror, and feeling a tad guilty, you grab your coat and throw it over the head of the balloon Jesus. This is the extent of your relationship with Jesus. You prop up the balloon and move it around, promoting “Jesus” to the driver’s position when it is advantageous to do so, and then unceremoniously demoting the colored air bag to the back seat and covering its “eyes” so that you won’t feel guilty as you do the real driving. You hardly ever talk to it, except when you want something badly, and when you don’t get what you want, you think you might as well be talking into the air.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23.
Perhaps you have done more than buy an inflatable Jesus, and you have really given Jesus a key—the fake key? Is it possible that you’ve kept from giving him the microchip key that is the all-access key that he’s waiting for? Perhaps the key you’ve given Him is the car key of promise, but in reality, it is just a lock-picker for the door. So Jesus is allowed to come pick your lock from time to time, and maybe he can sit in the seat sometimes, or store some of His stuff in the back seat, but you’re not willing for Him to drive you where He wants you to go. He can sit in the driver’s seat, but like the inflatable policeman, He’s just there for effect. He can’t take you anywhere…