Motorcycle Theology, Part 4

I want to first apologize for the long delay in posting Part 4. These last few weeks of school/research/interviews/life have been keeping me from posting the much-anticipated fourth installment of Motorcycle Theology.

Since it has been so long I will provide a brief summary of my previous posts. In Part 1, I discussed reasons that I would like to ride a motorcycle. I uncovered some startling statistics attesting to the danger associated with riding a motorcycle in Part 2. Our obligations to be responsible with our safety were discussed in Part 3. Additionally, I supported my claim that trusting God does not necessarily insure our safety when pursuing whatever reckless activity we want. In Part 4, I will write about our responsibility to honor our parents with our decisions.

When discussing the possibility of getting my motorcycle license with my parents my mother said: “Well, I’m not going to tell you not to because you’re and adult and can make your own decisions”. However, I know that riding a motorcycle would not make either of my parents comfortable. As any good parent would do, they would constantly worry about my wellbeing. I’m sure that many parents would have this same concern.

Thus, if God commands ME to honor my parents, the only decision I can make is to not ride a motorcycle. I’m not saying that a Christian cannot ride a motorcycle. I’m saying Christians in a similar position as me should not. This is especially true of Christians, whom God has called to enter a motorcycle ministry – honoring God would trump honoring parents in this situation.

Lets’ look at what God says about honoring our parents. Ephesians 6:2 says “Honor your father and mother”. This verse is referencing the 10 commandments given by Moses in Exodus 20 (specifically verse 12). The author continues to write: “this is the first commandment with a promise”. He continues by giving instructions to fathers telling them to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Colossians 3:20 says “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” I really could keep going with verses reciting this command including (but not limited to): Deuteronomy 5:16, Matthew 19:19, Mark 7:10, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, and Ephesians 6:1. From these verses, I think it is quite clear that God commands us to honor Him by honor our parents.

I want to clear up a very potential argument against honoring our parents. Luke 18:29-30 says “’truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.’” Matthew 15:4-7 refutes any possible interpretation of this verse to say that we should NOT honor our parents. It says: “For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father. So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites!” I think it is quite clear from these two verses that Luke 18 is saying that we should not put our parents before God. God must be #1, however, this still does not excuse us from honoring our parents, especially with an irrational decision putting our safety into question. Note that honoring your parents is NOT the same thing as working for the approval of men.

Sure, none of us have perfect parents. We live in a fallen world. Our parents may make poor decisions. They may treat us poorly. They may not even be Christians. But God is still sovereign over their position of authority over you. God is sovereign over their character and even the fact that they are or are not saved by grace. That being said, to submit to God’s authority is to submit to our parent’s authority. This is a topic close to my heart, which I plan on writing more about soon.

I could continue with this topic and write about our responsibilities to our wives and children. However, being a proud representative of the BTR, I’m going to keep this short. Marriage brings additional responsibilities to not only provide for yourself but an obligation to provide for your wife. If you bring children into the equation, your obligation is increased even further. I just want to say, don’t put yourself in a position that could potentially leave your family in a position to dishonor them by forcing your wife to provide for the family that you will either leave behind or even sit at home unable to work. I don’t see the word “irresponsible” anywhere in the definition of a man. Additionally, not riding a motorcycle could be a way for a husband to love his wife by giving things up for her (Ephesians 5:25).

In the final installment, Part 5, I will provide a quick “test” to determine when to enter into “less than safe” situations.