Better Off Dead
The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 made a big, truck-sized dent in the American market – eventually. The very first Land Cruiser was strong and capable, but didn’t have much of a sales effect for the automaker. In 1958, its first year of production, Toyota famously sold just one. Its 1960 redesign introduced its now-signature straight-six and “FJ40” designation. Yet in 1966, the year after the Corona hit American shores (and the same year as the introduction of the 2000 GT sports car), Toyota sales in the U.S. totaled just 15,000. That same year, Pontiac sold nearly 97,000 GTOs here alone.
The FJ40 carried on for years. By 1980 it had a 4.2-liter straight-six and a 4-speed manual, but no air conditioning or power steering. By 1983 it was dead. But after it was gone, its legacy was endearing enough to justify a comeback via the retro chic 2007 FJ Cruiser, and now values of both old and new FJs are on the rise.
The FJ40, and numerous characters in the Bible, had more impact after their death than they did while they were alive. In Judges 13-16, Samson receives all the power, appeal, and brute strength of an FJ40, but, being compromised by lustful pursuits, squanders it on personal vendettas. His final act, toppling a Philistine temple to their god, thereby crushing scores of Philistine dignitaries and devastating their pagan culture, fulfilled what the angel of the Lord said about him even before he was conceived: that he “will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” (13:5)
Throughout Samson’s misguided and self-centered life, God moved through his wanderings to put the pieces in place that would culminate in that God-glorifying final moment. Yet it wasn’t until Samson’s death that God would be glorified.
Symbolically, Samson’s victory for God required the death of his self-serving, self-glorifying, and self-obsessing. The same is true for us. We tend to obsess over ourselves in two ways: thinking too highly of ourselves, and thinking too little of ourselves. The first one was Samson’s vice. The second one is the vice of people like Moses, Sarai, and Gideon, and masses of Christ-followers today, who let their temporary views of their temporary weaknesses limit their involvement in God’s eternal plan.
Like Samson, we can’t fully serve God until that part of us dies. Romans 6 emphasizes this transformation: “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? … If we have been united with him like in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” (verses 2-7)
If you’ve ever said “I don’t have time” for the faithfulness and selfless service God has called you to, a Samson-like self-glorification still lives in you. But if you say, “God’s done with me. I don’t deserve to be part of His plan. I’m washed up. I’ve done some things,” consider Samson in the moments before he died to self in a very real way. God knew how unfaithful, impulsive, self-serving, and arrogant he was, yet God chose the weakest moment in Samson’s life to show His strength. God gives that strength even to the weakest of us so that He can be glorified.
God’s patience for one person lasts far longer than the span of their life. If you think your life is too close to its end to still have value, maybe God has an FJ40-like flourishing planned for the seeds you’ve sown and the impact you’ve made along the way.
