Is my Car an Idol?

We have had on at least two ocassions, people E-mail us about the balance between owning nice collector cars and being a sharing, caring Christian. Once such person told me that he once had lots of cool cars (he listed them) and the devil had trapped him into seeing these cars as idols. He felt convicted to get rid of the cars and even burn his car magazines. Once he had demonstrated his willingness to make God first in his life, he problem with cars being seen as an idol disappeared and he now owns several more collector cars and is keeping a healthy perspective on "worldly things" and the Christian life.

Another person E-mailed me...

"I'm having a small "crisis of conscience" right now, and it occurred to me that somebody like yourself, in a Christian rodders association, could maybe offer some guidance or advice. Here's my story: I sold my street rod a number of years ago because I needed the cash more than the car at the time, but I've been saving my pennies ever since hoping to eventually buy or build another. Well, I also recently invited Christ back into my life after far too many years of being a "fair weather" Christian, and began reading the Bible again. My question, now, after re-reading Jesus' words regarding earthly wealth, giving to those in need, etc., is this: How does a Christian rodder reconcile those words with owning what is truly just a very expensive toy? When I ask myself "What would Jesus do with $20,000?", the answer isn't "He'd buy a street rod, of course!". If it has to be a choice between owning another street rod and serving Christ, there is no question or hesitation in my mind... but clearly other Christians have found a way to reconcile serving Christ and owning such an "extravagance", and I'm interested in any thoughts on the matter from someone who's been there. Thanks to the ARC for providing ministry and fellowship to the rodding community, and for any replies to this note."

My response to this E-mail is as follows....

This is a very good question that should not be taken lightly. And of course these kinds of things are between each person and the Lord, and we may have different times in our lives when the Lord impresses us to dispose of our worldly possessions.

Also this has some impact in proportion to the individual's overall income level. Some, for instance, can afford this luxury, without taking away from other more important things like, say an individual's ability to afford for their children to have a Christian education, for instance.

On a global scale, there is always world hunger and we could give it all away and never stop the problem, but Jesus had lots to say to people who were selfish with their possessions.

Read the story about the Jesus' encounter with the "rich young ruler" who left choosing his possessions rather than following Jesus.

On the other hand, some of the most prominent Bible characters were very wealthy. MONEY is not the ROOT OF ALL EVIL, but the LOVE OF MONEY is. Solomon was extremely wealthy, and the wisest man that ever live (300 wives and 700 concubines...go figure). And Job was the Bill Gates of his time. After he proved faithful to God,
God gave him everything back and more.

Now back to the cars.

When I got married I had a 36 Ford rod. I loved that car. Never planned to sell it. But I did as a commitment to the Lord in a time when we were maxxed out on many credit cards, a mortgage on a new house, car payments, and a need to prioritize. I sold the rod and paid off some debts and bought a personal library worth of Bible resource materials. Although I missed that car a bunch for many years (over 10), I never regretted the decision.

Later in my life, we were very blessed by selling our business (it was a miracle). We made some investments for the future, did some heavy charity contributions to our local Christian school building project and of course paid tithe, as we always do.

Now the Lord has made it possible for me to presently have eight collectable cares in various forms of completion. All of them are seen as an investment. I have been very successful in buying cars at very good deals and being able to sell them to other for good deals and make some profit along the way.

We bought a 61 Caddy convertible and cleaned it up and were able to donate several thousand dollars to the Christian school project to help pay down the debt.

The thing we like about the Adventist Rodders Club is that we KNOW that its all going to burn and are not so attached to our cars that we would not get rid of them in a heartbeat, when the Lord tells us to.

For the time being, the Lord has seen fit for us to enjoy the fun and use the cars ina way to reach out to others, showing how Christ Restores us much like we do with these hopeless hunks of junk.