Fake Convertible

I happened to pass one of those fake convertibles the other day. You know, a Buick or something like that with a vinyl or canvas top made to look like a convertible. But it doesn’t go down. It just has the look. That seems so ridiculous to me.

I really like our convertible a lot. But they do have disadvantages. First, they cost a bunch more money than an otherwise equivalent car. For that you get a vehicle that, all other things being equal, is noisier, looser, tends to flex and squeak and rattle more, often leaks, can be drafty, has higher maintenance, will probably need that expensive top replaced at some point, is more vulnerable to damage and theft, and oh, better not take that canvas top thorough a car wash. The seams could come undone. But, on a nice day or a starry evening, when you stow that top and roll down all the windows, there’s nothing quite like it. It’s so well worth all the little annoyances of convertible ownership. And though a sunroof is nice or T-tops, it’s just not the same. Rag tops are just cool. And fun. And they look great with the top down. But often the roofline of the drop-top just isn’t as pretty as the hardtop version of the same car. It’s what they do that’s great, certainly not what they look like with the top up. That’s why I can’t figure out why someone would want a car that looks like a convertible with top up. The fact that they exist tells me that there are significant things about human nature that I don’t understand at all.

That made me think of something else I don’t understand at all. Maybe you can enlighten me. I’m a Christian. I believe that Jesus is who he said he is. There are many fantastic benefits to being a believer in Jesus. But there are also some things that are difficult sometimes. The whole dying to self thing gets very involved. I hadn’t thought about this in years, probably, until seeing the fake convertible. But if I wasn’t a Christian, I think I’d be a guy you might not like much. I would be extremely selfish. The old Shlitz beer commercials used to say, “you only go around once in life, grab for all the gusto you can!” And hey, what reason would there be not to if this was all there was ever going to be? Why deny yourself anything? This might be your only chance. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

I’m quite certain that I would have been a diabolical criminal if I had not become a Christian. It never made any sense to me to “be good” apart from the context of trying to please God in response to the great things He has done for me. So, the thing I don’t understand is this: why would anyone who truly believes there is no God care anything at all about being good? I know many such people are around, but I don’t understand them. Perhaps it’s a desire for an orderly society or whatever, but at the heart of that would be wanting something for one’s self. So why go after it the hard way?

And people who go through the motions of being religious without actually believing and basing their innermost life on their beliefs, well, what a colossal waste of time. I’m living in the south these days and am blown away by the hordes of people who attend church every Sunday as some kind of cultural expectation. Good grief, if I didn’t believe it, I sure wouldn’t waste one day a week on it. But people do. And people buy fake convertibles. The look of all the inconvenience with none of the benefit. Give me the real deal or give me something else.

Okay, I’ve revealed my simple mind. Maybe a kind hearted, atheist, humanist will be kind enough to spend a few moments of his or her precious life to explain this to me.