The vicious cycle of the car scene

Before I became a follower of Christ, I was a follower in the car scene. Being born and raised in southern California, the car culture was everywhere and the pressure to drive a cool car was heavy amongst me and my friends. I recall when I was a young child I would look at the hot rod magazines my dad would have laying around. I have an uncle who spent about 30 years working on one car. Its a beautiful piece of machinery and looks flawless now. But now he is a very elderly man and probably wont enjoy the car as long as it took him to build it. I really got into cars around junior high. A friend of mine introduced me into low riders. He claimed that his dad owned a local shop where they installed the hydraulic systems into the cars. It was later found out in my senior year of high school that he was lying for all those years. Anyways, when I got into the Army, after my first tour in South Korea, I got into import cars and street racing. I spent a lot of money fixing up my cars, a lot of time online learning how to work on them, trash talking, car shows, car meets and I got into a lot of trouble with the law as a result.

I look back now and I realize how dumb I was because of all that time and money I wasted. On what? Nothing. Sure i had "friends" who liked me because of the car I drove and parts I had. But where are they now? They are not in my life anymore. I could've used my time more wisely on things that really mattered like paying bills, taking care my kids, and getting right with God. The past me wasn't very kind at all to the future me and my family. I lived recklessly when I was in my 20's. I thought that I would get shipped off the war and I would die an "honorable" death on the battle field. By the Lords grace I survived two tours in Iraq. I didn't expect to live this long! But God had different plans for me and that's why I am here now. To write about the car scene and how it will hurt you and others in the long run but there is hope.

First, lets talk about what the Bible has to say about this. In Exodus chapter 20 God says that we shouldn't bow down and worship any other gods or idols or images because He is a jealous God The consequence of not obeying this command is that your third and fourth generation of your kin will suffer because of your sin. But God shows mercy to those who follow His commandments. Worship is defined as "the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity". One of the definitions of an idol is "a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered:" Lets continue. Don't take the Lords name in vain. Honor your mother and father. Do not murder. Jesus said that if you have hate in your heart towards somebody, you have already committed murder in your heart. You shall not commit adultery. Jesus said that if you look at a woman (or man) with lust in your heart, you have already committed adultery in your heart. You shall not steal. Yes, these are some of the 10 commandments. If you break one of these laws, you are guilty of all of them according to James 2:10 "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point,he is guilty of all."


So what does the 10 commandments have to do with you, cars and the car scene? It has everything to do with those things. Some of you might say that you are a good person. A good person compared to who? Me? A tyrant dictator? A rapist? A thief? A murderer? Yes, perhaps that is true. But if you line up with Jesus who is the "selfie" of God, who is perfect, sinless and good in every way, how do you stack up against that? We all fall way short of His standard. We were born into sin. You inherited it from our ancestor Adam. Let me put it to you this way, did you have any choice in your skin color, natural hair color, and genetics when you were born? No, of course not. You were born into these characteristics just like sin. You personally cant change your sinful nature. Do you have to teach anybody to do bad? Not really. The bad you do have to teach somebody they pick up rather quickly. You have to teach someone manners and how to act right and that takes time. But no matter how good you think you are, we all fall short of Gods standard and by that standard we will all be judged one day.


The good news is that Jesus, who was God as a man, was born into this this world. He lived His life without sinning. Did you know that He was tempted in the same ways we are daily and yet did not sin? In Hebrews 4:15 it speaks about Jesus, our high priest, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Jesus knows how it feels to get done wrong and want to get revenge. Jesus knows how it feels to loose a loved one. Jesus knows how it feels to be tempted to look at someone with lust. Yet He didn't sin. So what does this have to do with us? Since Jesus lived a perfect life and He is the only one who could meet Gods criteria, He took our place on the cross. Imagine it this way. You are on your way to jail. The vehicle stops and the officer opens the door and a random guy tells you "If you trust in me, you can go free and Ill take your place in jail and take your all your punishment." Sweet deal right? You would have to be really dumb to reject that offer. Well that's the offer Jesus gives all of us. If we believe in Him, we are set free of the bondage of sin, Gods anger is not on us anymore, and then He will help us to live a good and pleasing life for God. We will all die one day and after that, is eternity. Don't believe these scientists or so called geniuses who say that once we die, nothing happens or we reincarnate into a caterpillar. That is just not true. There is no hope in that. There is hope in Jesus because you can live forever with Him and this world will be as bad as it will ever get for you. On the other hand, you can reject Jesus, Gods wrath will still be on you, when you die you will be judged for every thought and deed and you will have to pay for those sins by spending eternity in hell. Hell is being separated from God.


Whats this got to do with cars? Jesus said that where your treasure is, that's i where your heart is. Be honest with yourself, do you pour most/all your time and money into your car(s)? Think about it. Are all your friends gear heads like you? Do you go to car shows and car meets? Are you okay with eating ramen for the next couple months or forsaking your responsibilities just so you can have those really cool rims or car parts just to show off to your car buddies? Do you have posters of cars and/or with a pretty girl and a car on your wall? When you get on the Internet, are you constantly on the car forums? Is everything about you car related? Do you have hundred of pictures of your car or other peoples cars on your computer or at home? If you honestly answered YES to more than one of these questions, then you worship cars because that is where your treasure is. I know this because I just described how I was and how most my car buddies were and how other car guys are too. It didn't matter how many friends I had, how cool or hooked up my car was, how many car shows or car meets I attended, or how much car schwag I owned, it was never enough and I was never happy. I was never ever satisfied. The car project was never done. Then you had haters and then you hate on other peoples cars because  you have what they cant afford.There are no amount of car parts, money, girls, parties, etc that can fill the humongous hole in your heart to satisfy that need. Its made for one thing to fit in there, and that is Jesus.


Am I saying liking cars is bad? No. I am saying idolizing and worshipping cars is bad because God says it is bad. When I surrendered my life to Christ, that also meant surrendering my love of cars. In exchange I now love Jesus. All I want is to know about Him. I am satisfied yet I want more. I am finally content with what I have and I can still want more of Jesus and its not a bad thing. Since turning my life over to Christ the majority of my car buddies stopped talking to me. Only a couple still kind of do. The car my family has is the only thing that is left of that life but I want to use it to bring glory to God and to safely transport my family. I don't feel like I have to prove myself to anyone. I hate street racing when back in the day I loved the thrill of racing someone on the street. I still like cars but I don't totally immerse myself into cars like I use to. I know, looking from that side of the fence, this life I live now seems lame. But I am telling its amazing. If somebody told me to renounce my faith in Jesus and I could have all of the cars I've ever wanted in exchange, Id promptly turn them down. I've tasted what it truly good and there is nothing in this world that comes close to what Jesus has to offer. Remember, I was a car guy just you and like most car guys. About 6 years ago I hosted a couple of popular car meets in town. I became well known in the car scene. I had a car that a lot of people liked and I even got ride of the month on a website once. I had everything I ever wanted as a car guy and I still wasn't happy. I still wasn't satisfied. I got tired of the vicious cycle of the car scene. 

When I gave my life to Jesus I lost and gained things. Yea, I may have lost friends but they weren't really my friends. The Lord replaced them with brothers and sisters who are of the faith. They truly care about me and genuinely love me. I may not be popular but that doesn't matter to me because God loves me and He proved that on the cross. Pride isn't an issue in my life like it use to be. Anybody lines up on the street and revs their engine, I let them go. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I don't spend quite as much money on my car as I use to and that has helped my finances tremendously and the quality of life I provide for my family. My girlfriend became my wife and I am so happy that I don't have to look at other women with lust. Most importantly, my sins have been forgiven and the wrath of God is not on me any longer. I was saved from it. There is nothing that will stop the wrath of God from coming one day. He will judge and reward living and dead according to the way they lived their life. Is your precious car worth going to hell for? Mine isn't. Its a tool that I plan on using to spread the good news about Jesus Christ. There is an end to the vicious cycle of the car scene and it ends with Jesus so that a new way a life can begin. I have been set free! The chains have been broken off and now I can truly live. This is available to you too my friend. Seek God with all your heart and you will find Him.