Ep 123: A Van Down by the River

What did I learn from driving the church van for a week? Let’s talk about that here in just a sec.

Welcome to the show. I’m Daniel Dalp, and this is For Your Sunday Morning Drive. We’re the short podcast with the goal of providing some motivation, direction, and encouragement and helping you recenter your mind on those spiritual things on the drive to church. I hope you’re having a fantastic day.

Ahead of this episode, I want to give a big shout-out to Porter Automotive, specifically to my friend Jordan. He helped me get back on the road this week, and it was much appreciated. I’m going to throw a link in the show notes. If you’re looking for a used car, check him out. He’s not a sponsor, but check him out anyway.

Well, with that, let’s go ahead and get the show on the road. This is episode 123: “A Van Down by the River.”

Let’s go to church.

The last week or two, I was unexpectedly without a vehicle. My car decided to quit on me, and while it was in the shop, it would, unbeknownst to me at the time, end up being beyond repair.

But during that time, my wonderful brethren at the Hawesville Church of Christ allowed me to borrow the church van so that I could get back and forth from church and also so that I could get to my secular job during the week.

I want to give a huge shout-out here to my awesome church family. It was a huge blessing.

But in comparison to my old Buick, the 16-passenger van was a behemoth. And with the name of our congregation inscribed on the side in these big, bold, black letters, it sure stood out—especially when I parked it at my workplace among the sea of smaller vehicles in the parking lot down by the Ohio River.

And I thought to myself on the way there, “You know, it’s probably not every day that someone drives a church van to work.” I figured I’d get some looks, but other than that, I really didn’t give it much thought.

But would you believe it? That van down by the river sparked more conversations about Jesus than I think I’ve ever had at work.

It struck up a conversation with the security officer at the gate when I explained that, yes, I worked there, and yes, it was a big vehicle, and yes, the church knew I was driving it. It presented an opportunity to talk to several of my coworkers when they saw me get out of that van throughout the week.

That, yes, it did guzzle gas; yes, it was fun to drive; and yes, I love Jesus and His people.

It also provided me with the opportunity to chat with the security guard who put a ticket on the windshield because I didn’t display my parking pass. That, yes, it was my fault. That, no, I wasn’t upset, but also, in my defense, who gives a ticket to a church van?

All of that aside, again, I was able to talk about my ministry, my church family, and my King.

Now, even if all of these conversations weren’t the most in-depth or, as of yet, the most fruitful evangelistic discussions, they happened at a secular workplace with people that I never mentioned Jesus to before.

And yeah, that sits really weird with me because the more I’ve sat and thought on it throughout this week, the more I realized that if I hadn’t driven that church van, I don’t know that those conversations would have happened.

Let me rephrase that. I know they wouldn’t have, but those people would still exist. And honestly, so would the opportunity to talk to them.

The thing that’s different, the thing that’s lacking, I believe, is courage.

Courage to create opportunities rather than just wait for them to appear.

Paul, in his parting words to the young preacher Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2–5, tells him this:

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you be sober in all things, endure hardships, and do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry.”

In other words, Timothy, you be ready at all times. Use every opportunity. Don’t just wait for things to fall into your lap or wait for them to be comfortable. Or, here’s the buzzword: “organic.”

He says, “Do the work of an evangelist.”

Listener, I know most of you are just like me. We have secular jobs that feed our families, and most of us are probably sometimes hesitant to talk about our Jesus because we know the consequences it could have.

I wrestle with that.

We talk a lot about how we long to be like the first-century church, and I think sometimes we forget that that means being like first-century Christians and ultimately like Christ.

And they all seem to have weighed salvation and taking that salvation to others above all worldly things, including maybe even a paycheck.

What I hope to encourage you to do this week is to be bold for Jesus.

Have those conversations you’re scared to have.

Because looking at this past week personally, it shouldn’t take a blown engine and a borrowed van to get me to talk to people about Jesus.

What am I worried about? What are we worried about?

Because Jesus has prepared for us a home in heaven. I think helping others get there is worth everything, even if it means living in a van down by the river.

Well, take them or leave them. Those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive.

Now it’s time to talk about ‘em. Our discussion questions for this week.

What are some opportunities to talk about Jesus that may already exist in your everyday life that you haven’t taken advantage of?

What worries you most about talking openly about your faith with coworkers, friends, or acquaintances?

How does the promise of what Jesus has prepared for us in heaven help put those fears and worries into perspective?

And I’ll throw it over to Evelyn for this week’s kids’ question:

What worries you about telling others about Jesus? How can you be brave?

Hey, thank you for listening. Thank you for being a part of our Sunday morning drive.

Be bold for Jesus, put our faith in Him, and I’ll see you Sunday.