My friend Ted owned Sack and Save, the largest single grocery store in the
western states. He built it from an idea he had, and it became a showplace for
him. He made lots of money, lots of friends, and the admiration of his peers,
who when meeting him for the first time wanted to know how he did it. His
margins were lower, yet he made more money. He enjoyed the power and influence
he had on the market, and also being the center of attention. For him it was
more than making money, it had become his whole life, his stage on which he
appeared daily, and people paid to see him, over and over again. But calling on
him one day, I was told he was in his office. I knew he had a small office
upstairs, but never used it, all 50,000 square feet of store was his office, so
I knew something was up. I found him clearing out his desk, and smiled ,as it
was a ceremonious action. He had sold the store, and wanted to get his stuff,
as he said. He had bragged how he never would sell the store, but he always had
a ridiculous price in mind, and someone offered it and Ted took it. The deal
done, it was about to be no longer his store, and he already knew he had made
the wrong decision. He wasn’t sure how his life would change, the store fed his
ego and his social status, it seemed he never really worked, he was always out
among the people, and through him I met many movers and shakers. But his store
was now history, he had achieved his dream, and then sold it out. For dollars
on the penny.
BA Moto sits in an old non-descript industrial section of Signal Hill.
There our friend Nathan and his friends conduct life and business the old school
way, their lifestyle, customer base, and shop all portraying the 1950’s, except
is is real and not a façade. They have the clubhouse room, an office, and the
shop, where I used to worry how they were making it, but the business grew and
is still growing. A labor of love, a vocation that lets them be on vacation,
and meet many others who ride. You probably don’t know Nathan, but he is on an
ad for Allstate insurance doing a burnout, which got him the gig of riding an
Indian, not his style, to all 50 state capitols to push for better motorcycle
awareness. A paying gig, a dream ride for most of us, an 11,000 paid summer
ride, but that was sadly interrupted by his father’s death. Nathan was very
close to Jigs, and took in all the BA boys as his own. There were times I was a
second father to Nathan, but a very distant second, Jigs was it. So when he
died it had a profound impact on Nate, and his family, extended, too. We had
talked on the phone, but when stopping by the shop a few months after, I was
ushered over to a circa 1953 BSA single motor, clean and shiny, sitting on table
next to Nathan’s stall. In it were Jigs’ ashes, I couldn’t think of a better or
more appropriate place, and he was next to Nathan everyday at BA Moto. To some
just an old BSA motor, to Nathan and us a tribute to his dad, something not for
sale at any price. If only Ted had met Nathan, before he sold his dream. There
are values and there are valuables, sometimes we never know the difference
before it is too late.
Henry Ford once wrote “it is a poor business that makes only money.” Of
course at the time he was regarded as the last billionaire, but it was his love
of his cars that drove him, the money came along as he succeeded. While others
were in it to make money, the object of free enterprise, Henry knew that the
profits would come if the product was right. In Jesus Christ, we have a product
like no other, that made promises like no other, and was able to deliver them
like no other. Reading through the gospels it is amazing to me how he took
things down to a simple level, and how we can make them so complicated. How he
focused on love and ministry, that when mixed with forgiveness gave us another
chance, and then to salvation, and our resurrection someday, just like had
promised. Yet others would pop up, and still do today, promising a better way,
demanding more from us and less from God, but falling short of Jesus’ promises.
Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned nor can be bought. It is free,
because no one could afford the heavenly price, so Jesus had to come from heaven
to earth and pay it. Jesus was all about his father’s work, that of saving us
and reuniting us to him, yet today’s churches are so involved with money they
are a big business. For all the activities they need a budget, so in tithes,
offerings, various youth group sales, and begging, yes begging, you know what I
mean, they feed the need for money, while sacrificing their calling. It is a
poor church that makes only money, and ministries that only focus on themselves
do nothing. Jesus said “give unto to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God
the things of God.” Are we really seeking what and who needs to be ministered
to and how? Or do we set up programs hoping they will come? Do we sit inside
our church all safe and clean, while the world rots away just outside, because
we fail to go out and become involved? True ministry is meeting needs, how can
you see if you are not out where the action is? How can you tell your testimony
if not out among the lost? It is the sick who need a doctor, maybe Jesus had it
right. But the sick are in the churches, while he is out on the street. But by
his spirit, we can all be healed, it is a participation event, one to one and
personal. Not a TV screen based sermon with no one to question, it is getting
out among the people, to those in hospitals, jails, homebound, and as we go we
will see lives changed by Christ. Not by us, we are to plant, or water, let the
spirit provide the growth, the change. An intangible that will leave tangible
results, maybe if we just asked God what he wanted to do, our meeting times
would be shorter and our ministries greater. Ministries, not miniseries. As
too much of church has become, to be continued next week....
The difference between Ted and Nathan came down to experience. And
relationship. They both experienced their dreams, Nathan continues to honor his
father in his work. Ted sold out, and lost his dream, rather cashed it in.
What is God leading you to do? What is the dream he is showing you for your
life? Is it all about you, are you willing to work and submit to God, to make a
commitment? We are under a new covenant, an open contract with no ending date,
as eternity has no end. Businesses will come and go, so will people, only Jesus
will remain, and we can to him, because he came to us. Stop pursuing old
traditional types of church, let God minister to both our heads and hearts, and
see our relationship with him have a deep, personal effect. A business that may
not make money, but will see souls and lives changed in Christ. God desires we
become his friends, not just his fans. Can we be honest and say the same?
What is more important, the financial, the emotional, or the spiritual
impact? In Jesus you can have all three, seeking him first, then HE adds all
the rest. Never hear that in business class, or maybe even church. The
disciples gave it all based on what they had seen Jesus do. How you see him
will impact how you know him, and serve him. Jesus went out among the people,
he taught in the sanctuary. It is a poor church that only teaches but doesn’t
go out and apply it. Jesus did, and that made all the difference. Ted sold his
shrine and had to leave the building. Nathan honors his dad everyday taking him
with him. Do we take Jesus with us? The church is starting to leave the
building, it is bored and complacent. The spirit is calling and is strong. We
are weak, but his strength made perfect in our weakness. Good advice only found
in the Bible, but only works if taken. Maybe Norma Desmond was right, “I am
big, it was the pictures that got small.” But maybe Ronald Reagan said it best,
when asked why he left the Democratic party, his answer “I didn’t leave the
party, the party left me.” If you know Jesus, you will know the
difference.....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com