The 55 Mile An Hour Church

By Lynne Yohnk

Once upon a time, there was a man in a normal, regular Christian church. He heard on the radio one day while driving, that you could save 15% on gas usage by driving 55 instead of 65. "Well! That's great!" He thought. He started to drive 55.

As he drove 55, he thought of all the good reasons he had to drive 55. He was not only saving money, but he was saving the environment. He was also more relaxed because he was rather separate from the rest of the drivers who just whizzed by him.

He thought also about his dissatisfaction with his church. He was hungry for more of God, he felt. Soon, he began thinking of scriptures that went well with his 55-mile an hour philosophy. His surmising went like this:

"The race is not to the swift" Ecc 9:11. This shows that you are not supposed to go fast.

In the scriptures concerning the destruction of Ninevah it says, "The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightenings". Nahum 2:4 Since it is talking about destruction, it cannot be good. This shows that justling against other vehicles is not a good thing. Driving 55 will cure that. It's also better to not run like lightning.

"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." Gen. 2:15 This shows that men are supposed to be good stewards of the earth.

With many more scriptures and such like, the man built an elaborate philosophy and began to preach that people needed to drive 55 instead of 65.

Pretty soon, he developed a following of people who also felt he was right. One woman, who did not agree at first, decided to try it once and see. Indeed, it was slower paced. She did save on gas. She was being a better steward of the earth. She had received the revelation.

Some people not in the church, argued. Some said they didn't have time to drive 55. Some said they saved in other ways like recycling. It was obvious to the man and his followers that these people were simply not hungry for God. They wanted to waste gas and think only of themselves. They did not care about the environment. Oh, they may recycle, but *this*! This about driving 55 was scriptural! And they rejected it.

All this rejection made the man and his followers feel persecuted. But, they knew that that was the price for loving and following God.

The years went by and the 55-mile an hour church people had offspring. The children knew it was a big deal to drive 55 only. One of the sons asked if 55 was good, wasn't 45 better? He was laughed to scorn. Everybody knew this was the 55-mile an hour church and NOT the 45-mile an hour church. They all knew they must drive 55 because the scripture said so.

As the years went by, cars became more efficient and roads were better. Everyone started driving 75 and hardly any gas was used at all. The emissions were much cleaner. Pretty soon the reasons they came up with originally were not as clearly understood by either the followers or the people outside the church.

However, it was deeply ingrained in the church people. This was the 55-mile an hour church. No ifs, ands, or buts. This was scripture and they were not going to compromise. God's Word never changes.

Then, it happened. One of the young left claiming that the rule was ridiculous and unbiblical. Scandalous!! This had never before happened! The preaching got harder. They couldn't afford to lose their young! They began to preach about rebellion against authority and how it was as the sin of witchcraft! They showed how submission to Moses was always correct. They preached that if you left the true church you would be lost. All this was very heavy.

And so the 55-mile an hour church grew and got more members. Many people wanted something different than the world had to offer. They preached it far and wide and had missionaries preach it everywhere they went. It prospered. This gave it even more credibility yet. They preached how there were few that would find it when it suited them and how growth was the blessing of God when it suited them. They gained many, many converts and they never, never compromised the doctrine of driving 55.

This writing is the copyright of Lynne Yohnk and was posted with her permission. Her email address is lyohnk@hotmail.com if you wish to write. Please let her know if you appreciate her writings!