The Messenger
Was there any car fan in the Playstation years who didn’t know about the Nissan Skyline? This vehicle, never sold on American soil, was common knowledge to a generation of car folks who knew all about it through games like Gran Turismo and Sega GT, tuner magazines of every variety, online street racing videos, and feature-length movies. Car folks got a taste with the legendary R32 Skyline GT-R, and its equally legendary RB26DETT, and ate up everything they could on the R33 and then the R34. When the R35 GTR finally hit American shores, the well-versed were ecstatic.
But not everyone was overjoyed. Nissan Skyline rivals, who never had to contend with Godzilla in the all-important American market, suddenly found themselves planning around an enormous variable. Would buyers of Porsche 911 Turbos leave German engineering for a car boasting unrivaled technological performance? Would Acura NSX owners trade in their practical performance rockets for an even more practical car – including a backseat and all-wheel drive? Would Chevrolet Corvette buyers trade in their cheap speed machines for a relatively affordable budget supercar that launched hard and handled corners with supernatural poise?
The Skyline wasn’t a secret to Porsche, Acura, Chevrolet, or any other automaker. They had decades of opportunities to match the tech, practicality, and performance of the Skyline before it came. In some ways, they made plans to shape up. In others, they were caught flat-footed.
The R32 GT-R was a forerunner, like a messenger, foretelling the R35’s arrival in America. In the Bible, the prophet Isaiah foretold a day when distant lands that didn’t know of God would finally get to hear about him – through messengers like the apostles. Over time, all nations would get the chance to hear about God.
“[The Lord said] I… am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations – to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,’ says the Lord.” (Isaiah 66:18-20)
God’s goodness is no secret. Everyone would get the chance to hear about it and even experience it. However, just like the R35 GTR, not everyone was thrilled at this news. The apostles were attacked and killed by people who heard about God’s grace through Jesus but didn’t want to believe it. Well, Isaiah had plenty to say about destruction too, and God always accomplishes his will.
Today, people still have the chance to hear about God’s grace and goodness, or choose to ignore it. Don’t ignore it. Isaiah’s words are saturated in God’s desire to redeem all people; the various cultures and practices of the people in the distant lands show the accessibility of God’s grace, while the means of bringing people to him (on horses, chariots, wagons, mules, and camels) show the lengths he’ll go in his purpose of redemption.
If you think you’re at the ends of the earth and far from God, look up. He’s already sending a messenger, in the form of a friend, song, book, sunset, or online article about a car. If you don’t see how you could get back to him, look around. He already sent transportation your way when he sent Jesus to bring you to him. As author Joanna Weaver once said, “When we couldn’t reach up to heaven, heaven came down to us… through the doorway of Jesus Christ.”
Of course, not all Skylines are GT-Rs. Some are rear-drive sedans with fewer than 200 horsepower. If you were, say, a Porsche product planner in the 1990s and you weren’t concerned with these lowliest of Skylines, you got the wrong message. Godzilla would be coming. Until then, it’s never too late.
