My first car was army green and was dubbed by my friends as “the Turtle” and was also affectionatly the “Green M&M”. The cool thing about that car was that it was a stick shift, very economical, got great gas mileage and was so easy to use. If you know anything about cars, stick shifts are much easier to work on then automatics. If the starter goes out… pop the clutch. There is lots of room under the hood and oil changes are simple.
Now (2007) I own a Saturn. Good car. It’s been pretty reliable and even at 180,000 miles and with crayons melted in the back seat from my beautiful daughters, it is still holding up.
The only problem is when something goes wrong, it’s so hard to fix. There is no space under the hood. I have to take this out to work on that, and that out to work on this. I can’t even do oil changes myself because there is no room to work (unless I buy a car lift and put it in my driveway).
What if Christians came in either an automatic or stick shift model? WWJD: What Would Jesus Drive?
The automatic Christian would have all the extras. There would be no room under the hood because they would have to have all the latest fads. Power windows and locks, heated seats, cruise control. You name it… they would have it. There would be so much crammed under the hood to make the car more enjoyable that when something would go wrong they couldn’t fix it themselves. When they would need something as simple as an oil change, they would have to call on someone that would know how to get in there and fix it. They would most likely be program driven (cruise control) Christians and they would make sure the car is washed and looking nice every Sunday morning. Their motto, “It’s all about me.”
The stick shift Christian might not be as “busy”, as “bling”, as trendy, hip or spectacular but under the hood they would have a simple engine. They would be very reliable. Working out simple problems would be a snap, popping the spiritual clutch would be a piece of cake, and they wouldn’t need to rely on others for simple routine maintenance. Though occasionally if something major went wrong, they would know to call a professional mechanic to help, but most likely they would watch him work so they could fix it if there is ever a next time. They would get great gas mileage (don’t need a fill up every two miles) and would cost a lot less to maintain. Some people might say they should turn in the junker for a new model, but they would have learned the secret of contentment in any circumstance. Their motto, “It’s all about Jesus.” Simple. Easy. Reliable.
If I were Jesus, I would much rather drive a stick shift then an automatic. You see, I would love both, but I would find the stick shift a much easier car to use. How about you?