My Indianapolis 500 Testimony: A Call to Holiness

This past Memorial Day weekend, I attended the Indianapolis 500. I don't often put myself in large public settings and I've found that removing yourself from temptation is one of the practical ways to guard your walk with God. So attending the race was a real change of environment, and it gave me a chance to observe where the world stands.

Walking through the infield, I was glad to see a few people wearing clothing that proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some were even outside the gates preaching to the crowd. To anyone reading this who was among them, God bless you. Keep going.

But their small number reminded me of Matthew 22:14: "Many are called, but few are chosen." When we evangelize, we should not expect a mass harvest. There will be few who are willing to hear. But that doesn't free us from the command. Scripture is clear that we are to take the gospel to all nations; Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8. Preach anyway.

Before attending, I came across a promotional video titled "You Will Never Look at the Indy 500 the Same Way Again." In it, fans described the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a "holy place" and compared it to a church. I don't believe these people were speaking casually. I believe they meant it. This is what the world looks like when it drifts far from God — people filled with a genuine longing for the sacred, but directing that longing toward created things rather than the Creator. In this case, a strip of asphalt. First John 2:15-17 speaks directly to this:

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

This is why evangelism matters. The hunger is real. It's simply misdirected.

The Snake Pit

Inside the track, a concert area known as the "Snake Pit" operates in the infield during the race. The name itself comes from the wild and lawless crowds of the 1970s and 80s; heavy drinking, chaos, and rebellion that earned that corner of the track its reputation. The name stuck, and so did the spirit behind it.

When I saw where some of the immodestly dressed attendees were headed, it was toward that concert. Scripture calls us to something different. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:9 that women should adorn themselves "in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control"  and the spirit of that instruction extends to how all believers present themselves to the world.

Paul's words in Galatians 5:19-21 leave no room for ambiguity:

"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."

If you claim to follow Jesus, this is not a gray area. Dress modestly. Avoid environments that celebrate what God calls sin.

Thief In The Night

Lastly, this year marked the 110th Indianapolis 500. I spoke with fans who had attended for 50 years or more. And I've heard it before from young people — the quiet assumption that there's plenty of time to get right with God later.

That assumption is dangerous.

This week, NASCAR champion Kyle Busch won a Trucks Series race at Dover. In one of his final interviews, he said that you have to enjoy each victory because you never know when it will be your last. Days later, severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, and Kyle Busch died in the hospital at 41 years old. ESPN

No man knows the day or the hour. Jesus will return like a thief in the night. Repentance is not something you schedule for later — it is a decision made now, followed by a life of transformation. Romans 12:2 calls us to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind." That renewal begins at conversion and continues for a lifetime. Faith in Jesus is not a deathbed transaction. It is a living commitment.

To close, Ecclesiastes 9:11 reminds us:

"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all."

None of us are promised another lap. Turn to Jesus. Repent. Be transformed.