A cartoon showed a man standing at the window looking out on a landscape filled with green grass, blooming, flowers, and blue skies. He was stretching his arms and saying, “It’s spring! The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, and the runaway Toyotas are flying down the freeways!”
Another cartoon showed a Toyota car dealership. Over one doorway was the sign, “Repair Shop.” Unfortunately, the dealership was in a shambles. The walls were in a near state of collapse under the impact of numerous Toyotas that had crashed into the building.
Have you heard about the Toyota override system that is to be used in case of brake failure? It’s called a tree. Things have gotten so bad at Toyota that yesterday at a Toyota test facility a crash dummy refused to get into one of their cars. Hollywood has even gotten in on the action. They are making a new movie about Toyota called “Total Recall.”
Well, I could go on with this, but you get the idea. In recent days, Toyota has had some tough sledding. Reports of cars suddenly accelerating and brakes not working have filled the media. Whether all of these claims are legitimate or not is a matter of some debate, but it doesn’t change the fact that recent months have produced a public relations nightmare for the automobile dealer.
For years, Toyota’s name was synonymous with quality. The Toyota brand had a solid reputation for dependability, innovation, and reliability. Now all of this is up in the air. The only thing that I can think of that comes close to this is Tiger Woods’ reputation for good judgment and character. I don’t have the space or the desire to go into detail about Tiger’s trouble.
One of the lessons that stands out in these debacles is what a fragile thing reputation is. Or, from a Christian perspective, what a fragile thing our witness is. You can spend a lifetime establishing a solid Christian witness and then blow it all in a very short period of time. It only takes a few wrong choices to negate the effectiveness of your witness. Rebuilding a Christian witness takes a long time. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
The other thing that stands out in the Toyota case is the need for quality as well as quantity. Last year, Toyota passed General Motors as the leader in worldwide automobile sales. One of the theories about the cause for Toyota’s problems is that in their quest to produce more vehicles they paid less attention to their trademark quality. They let some things slide. They didn’t pay attention to some very important details.
That is always a struggle for the church. We have been called to reach the world, but in our quest to do so we can never overlook the kind of commitment that is needed on the part of those who come to Christ. Quality can never be sacrificed on the altar of quantity. May God help us to keep the two in balance!
