It’s Just a Truck…
Posted on March 27, 2008
Filed Under Personal, Worldview |
Most of my life, I have driven old cars…usually over 10 years old. So, it was not unusual that in 2006 I was driving a 1995 Jeep. It was closing in on a couple hundred thousand miles and so I began the search for a replacement, and I was looking for a good deal on a used pickup truck. I had been dreaming of getting one for some time and I felt this was the moment. However, in the midst of that search, a close friend of mine graciously offered me the opportunity to get a new one at close to factory cost. I was skeptical at first, but when I found that the bottom line wasn’t going to be much different that the price of a used one, I ventured into a world I was not familiar with: brand new shiny vehicles that you look at in a show room rather than someone’s driveway. I drove away with my new Chevy pickup truck. I had smelled a new car before, but I had never been the owner of one.
I love this truck!
I love everything about this truck.
This is a picture of my truck doing what trucks are supposed to do: haul things…or help 
people move…or load it up with family and drive through the woods.
My wife would laugh at me because I wouldn’t park in a regular parking spot if there were a chance that someone would park next to me. I couldn’t stand the thought that someone would ding the side of my new truck with their door. So, I would drop my wife off at the entrance to the restaurant, or the store, or church, or theater…and then drive to the farthest, loneliest place in the parking lot, safe and secure from all the careless people with their vicious doors. I told her I would only act crazy like this for one year, and then we could treat it like a used truck. Well, that didn’t happen. My truck’s first birthday came and went and I was still parking somewhere just south of North Dakota wherever we went.
But, it was worth it. Even though I had moved my dad from Texas, helped moved my son into his new house, my daughter into her new house, hauled the props for the church play and so forth, my truck was still shiny new and closing in on birthday number two.
Did I tell you that I love this truck?
Then, the unthinkable happened. In the blink of an eye…in the fraction of a second…out of nowhere, I got rear-ended. No! I yelled. This can’t be! I have to admit that I didn’t handle the situation well. My wife was sitting in the passenger seat and I yelled. I didn’t say a bad word, as in swearing, but I used words like “you idiot!” and “what were you thinking!” and so forth…along with some volume.
I got out and stormed back to see what damage had been done to my shiny 
new truck. It wasn’t pretty. How could such a strong and mighty pickup truck get broken so easily? The bumper was shoved up into the left rear panel, bent like it was made of cardboard rather than tough steel. The bumper was toast, the quarter panel was toast, and maybe the tailgate as well. How in the world could this have happened?
I then turned my attention to the perpetrator. I wasn’t concerned with anyone else’s well being. I didn’t say: “Are you okay?” “I hope you aren’t hurt.” “Don’t feel bad…it can happen to anyone.”
I didn’t say any of those things.
I simply repeated my lines, with volume: “You idiot!” “What were you thinking!” “Can’t you keep your mind on what you are doing!”
No response. Not a word in return. The perpetrator just stood there like a bump on a log. Only then did I bend down to look at the damage to the other party.
There wasn’t any…not a dent, not a scratch, not a mark at all. 
I took some pictures of the crime scene and the perpetrator…who never responded to my accusations…because, I was really talking to myself. I do that more than I should.
After the emotions died down and the shame began to wane, I was reminded of the words that Jesus spoke to his disciples and the multitudes in Galilee:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt 6:19-21)
I suppose that I had begun to lay up a treasure on earth in my shiny new black pickup truck. I think Jesus was interested in teaching me a lesson here. Granted, we are to be good stewards of the goods God has entrusted to us. We are to properly care for them so that we are not like the sluggard whose fences are broken down or the poor steward who did not invest the talents the Lord gave to him. However, we must guard against the tendency to begin to view our goods as a treasure that demands more and more of our affections, until, almost without thinking, it becomes a focus of our heart.
Well, my truck is now in the hands of a skilled craftsman who, for a tidy sum of money, will do his best to restore it to some form of its former self. I don’t know if I will continue to protect it as I have. But, I do believe that I see it differently now. It is a pile of rust in the making. Years from now, it will be dented, scratched and faded. The seats will be worn and torn. The engine will be weary. I may or may not be still alive. But when my truck is rusted away or compressed into a mass of steel headed to the smelter’s shop, it’s status in this world will be of no merit or value. That can be said of my Mac, my house, or my favorite shirt. Outside of the eternal God we serve and His Word, the only earthly thing of lasting value resides within the soul of man.
Sometimes even a silent old tree can teach you the difference between the finite and the infinite–things of real value and things of passing value.
Like a shiny new black truck.
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14 Responses to “It’s Just a Truck…”
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Dr. Del Tackett is president of the Focus on the Family Institute and Senior Vice President to Focus on the Family. He is also the architect and chief spokesperson for Focus on the Family's The Truth Project--a nationwide initiative designed to bring the Christian worldview to the body of Christ.
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Del,
I have to admit to laughing, not at your truck being damaged, but at the way you tell stories. You are so funny! I think the Lord finds the same kind of humor in bringing our perspectives around. My dad bought my first little car for $400 and it had a big red bow tied around it when he gave it to me for Christmas one year. I walked outside and saw this shiny little silver Champ. I jumped up and down and went to take it all in. First one side and then as I went around the back to view the other side, I was in shock. My first little car was “crushed” on the other side (he bought it that way). Dad had parked it to where that wasn’t showing, don’t you know. I couldn’t say a thing because Dad paid everything he had for it and the joy on his face was priceless. That was my first lesson in pride from a man full of wisdom. He continued to teach me that lesson as we had to replace vehicles with new bundles of joy every semester (it felt like)I attended college. Now if a crumb falls in my new car, I go insane. (I obviously haven’t finished learning the lesson on pride)
Del,
I bought my black pickup when it was three years old. But, it looked like new, not a ding anywhere. Grocery carts are, evidently, made of stronger stuff, for I have suffered greatly from those beasts which roam parking lots seeking whom they may devour.
I was able to take out a basketball goal at the edge of my driveway…with the tail gate down…
Guess what? It still hauls just as it did before, and I’ve taken to saving myself a few steps by parking closer to the door.
God does seem to have a way of getting our attention, of helping us understand that it isn’t about things…it’s all about Him.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Mike
Del,
Our lives parallel! I had a nice little black truck. I also loved that little guy.
I found Paul had some Biblical wisdom that I apply to things that happen in my life. I can gauge how much God will affect things through me based on the bad things that happen. Whenever I become involved in something that will impact God’s kingdom, Satan always shows up to cause trouble.
Back to my truck - I had just attended the first of seven meetings setup to plan a “Walk to Emmaus”. I was charged with giving a talk to the attendees of that walk. Our first meeting was quite a distance from my house & I drove my shiny, black, Ford Ranger. Did I say I loved that guy? Well anyway, that morning was typical for our area in February, cold, wet & icy. The roads were also typical so I was being very careful not to hit any of the millions of pot holes along the road.
On the way home I got off the highway on one of those long circular exit ramps. The salt truck had not come by in a long time and it was slippery. I swerved to avoid a pot hole the size of Rhode Island, the front tire slipped off the pavement and my little truck rolled over the embankment. Like everyone always says, I was in slow motion - over & over & over he rolled. Broken glass was flying everywhere. Thing is, God was right there!!! I was seatbelted in but it felt as if He had His hands of me holding me in place. When the vehical finally came to a stop I was upside down. Every window but the drivers was broken out and layed in little pieces on what was the ceiling. I crawled out through the passenger window because none of the doors would open.
As I emerged I heard this voice yelling, “Are you alright?” Here was this guy who looked like Mr. Clean helping me out of my truck. Mind you I had rolled all the way down a large embankment but he was already at that door as I was squeezing myself out!
I looked myself over - all I had was a little scratch on my little finger & a little nick on the top of my head, but both occurred AFTER the car stopped when I unbuckeled my seatbelt and dropped to the ceiling where all that broken glass was!
Throughout the ordeal God was there. The EMS driver was even from my church! The policeman who arrived said the last two times this same thing happened the drivers were both killed. I shared with him how I had been saved - both that day and in August of ‘84 when I was first saved.
Needless to say I could tell great things were going to come from that “Walk to Emmaus” 2 months in the future! My little black truck was completely totalled. Every part of that little guy was smashed in except where I was sitting. God had not only held me in his arms but kept that truck from crushing me.
I lost my truck, but boy was I shown what was truly important! God is Great!
Del, Thank you for making me laugh and reminding us whats really important in life. John
Thank you for your “truck” story. I laughed. I am there, not with a truck, but with a little red 2007 Corolla that we bought with only 14k miles on it. The newest, best looking car my husband and I have ever owned in 48 years of marriage. The previous car was 15 years old and had a wimpy 135,000 miles on it. I try to park as far away from everybody else as I can reasonably manage. I imagine boat fenders on the sides to keep everyone away, etc. I don’t imagine my reaction will be any different than yours and my feelings of shame also for the first time some ‘idiot’, maybe even the person I see in a mirror, hurts my little red car. Del, keep writing and sharing the day to day stuff.
Jan Adams
Dr. Tackett,
We are used car people as well, and I recently, after just 2 weeks of ownership of a 90,000+ Toyota, hit and killed a yearling deer. We live at 7000 ft. and it’s common to see deer everywhere, but I hadn’t hit one until recently. Then, a few weeks after that, while taking a little girl home from church, hit one of her driveway posts while backing in the dark, leaving a gash down the side of my rear panel.
It’s my opinion that we should all trade in our cars, buy horses, and simply shoot them when they’re old. I know you can’t air-condition a horse, nor can you be insulated from the weather while riding. There are drawbacks, but I’m beginning to see more benefits as well, such as feeling a bit better about loving a horse rather than a car. Stuff is stuff; people are people, and I am grateful that God knows our hearts.
Here’s to hoping for long years with your truck, no more errant trees, posts, deer, or other obstructions. And, just for clarification, were you calling yourself or the tree an “idiot”?
Del,
Ha…..Ha…..Ha……too funny!
Every visit to your blog is worth it. The funny part is the innocent tree and your embellished reaction. I hope you carved a heart in the trunk of the tree where your rear end hit and added some personal insignia for history’s sake.
Keep teaching, I’m looking behind me while my car is in reverse from this day forward!
God Bless,
Tom S
Dr. Del,
Thanks for the truck story! At least you are in no danger of the “pride of poverty” which many suffer. I am always interested in the reactions of those who take so much pride in “having nothing, and never wanting anything”? Especially when they are Christian’s and want to be ‘poor’ like Jesus. Jesus was not ‘poor’, he simply relied completely upon His Father for His daily needs. Vows of poverty can become their own entanglements. Enjoy your truck, you’ve been blessed by the Father and He is enjoying as you play and learn! Bless you. We too were ‘awed’ by Israel! Jesus was surely no wimp!
Soli Deo Gloria! Dave
I have an old Toyota pickup with 215,000 miles on it. I hit one of those yellow concrete-filled posts a couple of years ago in a parking lot, and I believe I had a similar reaction to the guy who hit me till I jumped out of my car and realized it was me who was the idiot…
It took me a minuet to figure out that it was the tree that rear ended you… You’re too funny. I read Todd’s reply and I had a similar experience. I rolled and 3 month old Ford Focus down an embankment. I was driving in a blizzard and my car began to slide. I was worried about hitting a mile marker when I felt the car tilt to the right. I was only going 15 miles an hour when I flipped. It really was in slow motion. It actually teetered on its side for a minuet before it decided to flip over onto its hood. After that accident I had a pretty big spiritual shift. I had been so absorbed in ‘Working for God’ I had completely forgotten about my own personal relationship with him. After the car accident I was able to refocus. My friend teased me that it took God flipping my Ford Focus to flip my focus. I’m so thankful for that accident.
My experience starts with a vehicle that had half the wheels of your truck. It was my first ‘new’ anything. I didn’t even have my bike licence for the first month of ownership, so I’d drive up and down the driveway a couple times, then spend an hour cleaning it (looking back I was off my rocker!) But 3 weeks into it, wouldn’t you know, I stopped too quickly, didn’t have my balance and the shiny side was on the ground. Just a few scratches but I was devistated. Eventually I got the proper licence and started riding… lots. I made lots of friends and many rides would have over 100 people along. There were always those who spent more time cleaning their bikes than visiting and riding with others. I felt fortunate not to be concerned with that anymore, I still took good care of the bike, but it was often dirty from riding. When I bought my next new bike, the first thing I did was took a hacksaw to it, made some modifications to make it unique. Then I was never tempted to ‘keep it new’. Now your trucks marked, you don’t have to worry about attack of the doors anymore, the truck will still haul furniture for your friends! Isn’t that a feeling of freedom.
Tim
Ya know, I’ve always suspected that trees can jump into our way when we’re not looking. I’m so glad no one was hurt. Several years ago a man from church bought a brand new van for his family. He was very careful with it for months, but the inevitable happened. On the day it got a long scratch on the side, he said,” Thank goodness! Now we can relax and enjoy the van.” I don’t know if I could say that about my new car, but it was inspiring. Hmmm, much like your blog!
Hi Del, this story completely reminded me of my precious hubby - sounds so much like him.
I had Roger read it and he also said he could see where it made me think of him. Thanks for sharing that.
We just finished leading 4 groups (85) people through the Truth Project. We had been at the conference in Edmonton in November/07 and we were completely taken by it. We wanted to equip leaders in different churches and also our own church’s small group leaders with this study. We’ve been so blessed! Have enjoyed it thoroughly and really look forward to leading a group in our home in fall/08.
Many of the verses inspired me from the Truth Project. I am a photographer and I make calendars with my photographs. I sell these to businesses for them to give away to their customers at the end of the year. Many of the verses from the TP are now in a 2009 Inspirational Calendar. They will be printed in summer/08 and ready for distribution in fall.
I’m excited as to what God has planned for these calendars. The front cover has the verse “The heavens declare the glory of God…” That verse just spoke to me over and over again. I knew it to be a theme for the inspirational calendar. Feel free to check out the calendar at www.photographybylisabraun.blogspot.com
Also, many of those that went through the TP here in the Saskatoon, SK (Canada) area, have shared their comments and how God moved in their hearts through the study. I posted them on my own blog www.lisas-pics.blogspot.com We’d love to share those with you.
God bless you for touching so many hearts for Him through this study, your teaching and your own personal stories. We’ve been transformed, and continue to be transformed. We look forward to leading it with many others that God places in our path.
Serving Him,
Lisa Braun from Warman, SK Canada
First let me say how much I have grown since starting The Truth Project in my small group. I pray that God will open my heart to the purpose of your teachings and that I may pass what I have learned along to others.
I too have a slight (ok huge) affection for autos. I baby them like they are made of precious gems. My view is that as much as we pay for them, we need to treat them as such. I park (as we call it) in the back forty everywhere we go, and my husband is worse. We recently sold our house and moved into a rental while we are building our dream home. I noticed a huge scratch down the door of my precious Grand Cherokee the day after we moved. I knew the only people that put anything in the back seat on moving day was my husband, my self and my 13 year old son. I initally got angry but felt God convicting me. I waited until the next morning on our commute to school to ask my son about the scratch. He initially denied it but then became upset and and admitted that it happened as we were moving. He said he didn’t tell me because he knew I would be mad. I told him how much I loved him and reminded him that lying is a sin. I told him that the lie he told was like the scratch, it can be corrected. I hope that he always remembers the scratch as a reminder that just as it can be fixed, the blood of Jesus fixes our sins.
In closing - I took a black sharpie to the scratch and buffed it with a coat of wax…good as new. God is good.