Profit and Personality
What makes a Bugatti a Bugatti? It’s a useful question, as Bugattis from the 1920s, 1950s, 1990s, and 2020s are all remarkably different. When a hip hop artist talks about “two pink Bugattis,” is she respraying a couple of 1927 Type 35B racers? When you see an ad for a race of “vintage Bugattis,” does that technically mean you can bring your 611-horsepower EB110 Supersport from 1995 and wax the competition in air-conditioned luxury? Car folks, how many of you could correctly identify the exceptionally rare 1951 Type 101 if you saw one on the street?
Like any other car on the planet, a Bugatti is a collection of bolts and metal that is ordered in such a way as to convey “personality.” Yet perhaps unlike any other car, a Bugatti must convey its personality with a certain, conspicuous gravitas. Things like engine displacement, styling, and value (read: price tag) are important components, but they only serve as individual traits that comprise the character of a car like a Bugatti.
Throughout history, some people have thought of God this way – as just another component in the life they want to build. They have used his truth, character, and name as components that help them achieve something: their ideal life, the pursuit of some goal, or success in business. For example, a business owner may hang an ichthys (a.k.a. “Jesus fish”) on their truck but not use honest or fair business practices.
During the time of the Old Testament prophet Amos, some religious rulers actually used their role in God’s temple as means to make money:
“Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, ‘When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?’ – skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: ‘I will never forget anything they have done.’” Amos 8:4-7
The name of God is not a component you use to build the life you want. Instead, by his grace God uses the components in your life to bring you, and people in your life, closer to him. This requires you to surrender your heart, goals, and plans to God, and to prayerfully consider how your interactions with people can be his action in the world.
This is especially true for Christ-following entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur and author Jeremy Raynor wrote in “Called to Create:”
“God is always on the move in the world around us. The entrepreneur who is attuned to God’s Word and his Spirit will continually find ways to use their ventures to carry out his will… two of the best ways we can more deeply integrate our faith into how our businesses operate are striving for excellence in everything we do and prioritizing people over profit.”
When you lay down your breathless pursuit of the life you want and start striving to emulate the personality of God, you begin to see that God is, after all, full of wisdom, justice, love, compassion, goodness, sustenance, emotion, and creativity. Things like your goals, occupations, and plans are important components, but they only reflect God’s personality if they’re used according to his personality.
Bugatti is well into its second reinvention during the past 30 years. The first was in 1991, when an Italian business magnate bought the dormant brand (as well as Lotus) for cheap. He dumped a bunch of money into it, building a new factory that produced roughly 152 EB110s, and promptly lost his investment when the market became oversaturated with 200-mph supercars. Today, Bugatti under Volkswagen Auto Group ownership produces a car that you’re welcome to employ as a component that comprises your personality – especially if your personality is ideally expressed at 300 miles per hour.
