Thirty-four

Own a Pickup Truck!

“Nice truck, man.” Actually his truck looked about as

bad as mine.

“Thanks. The odometer has turned over twice and

yet there has been absolutely no repair work done to

the transmission or engine. Ugly, but I love it.”

“You’ve got to be the only preacher I know who

would drive his truck to a funeral.”

         

Own a pickup truck! The reader asks, “Is this guy

serious?” Yes, I am; in fact, I would not be without

one.

If I were the president of a seminary I might

consider a requirement that no one would graduate

unless they owned a pickup truck. That comment

might seem somewhat odd, but there is a serious point

to this.

I usually have a fairly old one and I am partial to

Fords. Presently I have a newer one (only 10 years old),

but I favor an old truck I do not mind seeing it dented

up when I loan it out. There are so many times when a

pickup is needed and it is not so easy to rent or borrow

one. Own a pickup truck!

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Own a Pickup Truch

Get a big one, not one of those little ones. Get a

big V-8 with an 8-foot bed. It does not matter how it

looks. They are fairly cheap.

I use mine primarily to help people move. Anyone

who has had to make a major move when money was

tight knows what a traumatic event moving can be.

Moving is usually a most stressful time, comparable to

any significant loss. Pastors help people through the

death of a loved one and divorce, yet moving is often

neglected. Moving may be the result of a divorce. It

may be necessitated because of an economic down

turn, loss of a job, a debilitating illness, retirement, or

some other unhappy reason.

Without exaggeration, which means I am not going

to use preacher license, I have helped several hundred

people move over the three decades of my pastoral

ministry. On top of that are the small moves, little jobs

that come up frequently (at least once a month) like

moving a couch, a refrigerator, washer or dryer, a bed,

a chest of drawers. These moves are not easily done

without a pickup truck. This very day I loaded up and

unloaded a cord of firewood. So many people are

completely stymied when it comes to a move, and what

a wonderful service it can be to help someone load up

their stuff and move it for them.

My aim is to make a move a fun event. Some of us

at Miller Avenue routinely gather together for them.

And we are pretty efficient at it. We can save somebody

hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, simply

through the use of an old pickup truck.

It is a wonderful service. I think it is one of the

most important and significant ministries that a pastor

can possibly do in the actual ongoing life of a church.

People move. And it is such a great thing to be able to

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For Pastors

help somebody move, help relieve them of that

pressure and anxiety.

For many years I had a 1972 Ford pickup truck. I

bought it in 1978 for $1500.00. I sold it for $500.00

recently. And that thing was worth its weight in gold.

Before that I had a 1955 Ford pickup truck and it was

an ugly beast, but it sure did a lot of good work. Now I

have a 1991 Ford 3/4-ton pickup truck, and that thing

does a ton of work.

If I were the president of a seminary I would

probably let somebody graduate if they did not own a

pickup truck. Probably!

         

  Pickup trucks may not appeal to you. You don’t really

have to have one.

  Do you have any ideas for some thing or some means

that might work as a substitute to having a pickup?