Asking the Big Questions
Few modern cars have just one powertrain option, and the Jaguar F-Type is no exception. There were eight engine and transmission configurations available in 2019, and as of 2021 there are three: a rear-drive, 2.0-liter turbo four with an automatic; an all-wheel-drive 3.0-liter supercharged V6 with an automatic, and an all-wheel-drive 5.0-liter supercharged V8 with an automatic. Hope you like power adders, because Jaguar’s showrooms have more blowers than a lawn care convention.
Out of all the options, why did Jaguar choose these three? There are at least three possibilities:
Best representation of the brand. As Jaguar’s halo car, this is a not a bad priority.
Highest profit margin. For a low-volume seller, this is not a bad move.
Best positioning against competitors. For an automaker not at the top of most people’s minds, this is not a bad strategy.
Whatever the reason, it’s for the strength of the business. Somehow, somewhere, some accountants and business folks decided that this is the best possible strategy for Jaguar, and now buyers have exactly these three choices.
Questioning the motives of authority is a time-honored tradition for humans. Most people have asked God “Why” at some point. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this. A hefty chunk of the Psalms are centered around asking God why he doesn’t intervene more powerfully in the lives of people who follow him. For people who are suffering despite being fully known and loved by an almighty God, asking “why” when things don’t make sense seems to make a lot of sense.
If you’ve ever felt this discouragement and someone urged you to read the Bible, perhaps you’ve looked for a passage that says, “Here’s what you need to do for God to reveal the details of his plans to you.” You probably didn’t find that verse, because it isn’t there. Instead, the Bible is full of people contemplating God’s wisdom with the reverence of a mystic, acknowledging that his ways are so far above yours that little glimpses are all you can handle. In a way, this is comforting. But not as comforting as the promise of one day knowing God fully:
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears… Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12)
Don’t miss the magnitude of this moment. When “perfection” (Jesus) comes and takes God’s people to heaven, everyone will be dwelling in God’s presence and will know him just as he knows his people now. It’s literally incomprehensible to people now, who spend so much time trying to wrap puny minds around things like mortgages, saturated fat, alternators, and reverse tachometers on vintage Jaguars.
So people try to imagine what that will be like. It’s a scenario ripe for poetry:
“One day I’ll stand before you/and look back on the life I’ve lived/I can’t wait to enjoy the view and/see how all the pieces fit,” is the interpretation of Casting Crowns. Yes, God’s movement in your life will probably become much clearer, but it’s also possible that you’ll be so enraptured by the presence of God that you may not find yourself pondering “Ah, so that’s why I lost my retainer in 10th grade.”
It’s hard to imagine even how you’ll imagine, and that’s okay. You’ll be with God, the one who fully knows you now and knows the answer to “Why?” even if you don’t know it now. He has a plan, and his plan includes working in the lives of his people to bring them closer and closer to him.
Jaguar stopped selling stick-shift F-Types years ago. Plenty of car folks cried out, “Why?” when the answer was obvious: no one was buying them. It’s a shame, of course, that people can feel pain even when the explanation of the pain is obvious. You can be comforted by seeing God’s presence in your life, even though you only see a glimpse of the presence you’ll be living with one day.
