The Columbus Buggy Company made excellent iron buggies in the 1880's. They were among the 200 factories in the iron rich Columbus, Ohio area. Of course, Columbus Buggy didn't survive when broad-scale manufacture and distribution of the automobile changed America's mobility at the turn of the century.
Their eventual demise wasn't poor leadership. Names like Harvey Firestone and flier Eddie Rickenbacker were among the 1000 employees on the payroll of Columbus Buggy, led by President Clinton Firestone. At peak production, they boasted producing a new buggy every eight minutes. The original company, Iron Buggy Company was eventually sold and their location moved to open the new company, Columbus Buggy. They manufactured and sold several lines of expert horse drawn carriages. They were industry leaders, great employers, an asset to the greater community.
So, what went wrong? The automobile? Not really, When the automobile made its debut the people down at Columbus Buggy Company could see the hand-writing on the wall. They re-tooled their factory to produce electric and gas-powered vehicles. They made excellent cars. With plants in Columbus and other locations they seemed to be competitive in building, distributing, and selling horse-less carriages. They had the vision to see the end of the age of horse-drawn transportation. But, their vision didn't see far enough.Go here it get their story.
They missed two other things on the horizon: the assembly line, and steel. These were innovations brought to the auto industry by none other than Henry Ford. He could manufacture cars faster and cheaper in his assembly-line production facilities. The honchos at Columbus Buggy thought the assembly line was a trendy whim. They decided not to convert their plants. They also thought steel wouldn't prove durable enough for America's transportation needs or that they couldn't afford to relocate to port cities where raw supplies for making steel could be shipped. So, they would keep making custom cars, one at a time, with a basically iron frame. Ooooh! Bad decisions.
There were some shocking stats shared at a conference the other day. Basically, the speaker offered numbers indicating a Pentecost experience happening every day at many locations around the world---in China, India, Indonesia, and other places. While most Americans believe Islam to be the fastest growing religion in the world, Christianity is actually making the greatest impact. That is, everywhere, except in America. Missiologists explain the reason. Christians in other parts of the world are not bound by the strictures and confinements of the American church.
Biblical faith is fresh and vibrant, the American church a buggy factory. Around the world people are experiencing Jesus in the new wine of a life-changing Gospel, while the church is weighted down with structural iron. While we're balking at re-tooling or discarding our programs, Christians in the third world are making disciples the Bible way. While the Good News of Jesus is reaching the utter most part of the world, English speaking Americans are suddenly among the largest unreached people groups.
Comparisons? Well, making disciples isn't manufacturing horseless carriages, that's for sure. The spiritual commission from Christ is certainly more consequential than building cars, changing lives quite a bit more significant than getting us from here to there faster. Yet, there is the wine-skin thing. Jesus said it and it is what it is! The new wine of the Good News just cannot be contained in the worn out, stretched forms of thread-bare wine skins.
Not a good illustration I know. But, when 89% of our churches are declining or plateaued, maybe it's a comparison we ought to consider.
Reckon?
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