When Clement Studebaker started making wagons back in 1853, he sold the first three to his brother Peter some 45 miles east in Goshen. Within the week Peter had sold them, and hurried back to South Bend to order more. It was then that Peter accepted the position in the new manufacturing business as Sales Manager, with a simple contract. "I will sell all the wagons Clement can make." And Clement handwrote below it, "I will make all the wagons that Peter can sell." And so the Studebaker Brothers company started, based on a simple agreement that would stupefy the most ardent business attorney today. Two brother-who understood the concept of supply and demand, and would form the foundation of a company that until 1966 would sell wagons, station wagons were their last model, selling the wagon portion of their business in 1919, going with gasoline cars after a brief, unsuccessful stint building electrics. A company that at one time had all the Studebaker brothers-all eight of them involved in the business, and that for over 100 years would be the major industry and employer in South Bend, Indiana. Their motto simple-"Deliver more than you promise."
Sadly they are out of business today, explaining the depression you find there, a mirror image of Detroit. But a town rich in automotive history. Names like Studebaker, Erskine, Churchill, and Hoffman adorn buildings and parks. When the last Studebaker gave over the reins of the business to a non-Studebaker, it was with a verbal agreement to always stay in South Bend, to support the town. Where fathers and sons worked next to each other at the factory, and at one time in 1952 eight brothers worked there at the same time. Devoted to the economy and society of South Bend, even the old test track where the word STUDEBAKER was cut into the forest, still remains today a memory of brighter days. A town rich in tradition, who when aligned with the other South Bend famous name, University of Notre Dame, is still well known. And Knute Rockne, famous coach there, and of the "win one for the Gipper," even had a car named after him, the Rockne, which only lasted a few years. But who is well remembered for giving a speech to the early automotive pioneers, that is said to have brought them to tears. Staid businessmen such as Alfred P. Sloan of GM, and Henry Ford attended and were inspired, eyes filled with tears, based on the speech that day. In South Bend, where the business of building cars, and the Company leaving its mark, delivered more than they promised.
Sadly if you are less than 55 years old you may not know of Studebaker. They left the car business in 1966, building the last Larks in Canada. But along the way leaving such legacies as the Loewy coupes of 1953, Presidents, Skyways, Commanders, the Avanti and Andy Granatelli, STP, and the famous 1950 model which asked, "which way is it going." Which along the way, was partnered with Packard, just before they went out of business. And imported Mercedes Benz automobiles in the 50's and 60's. All gone today, as the cars are absent, but the legacy remains. The town, a mirror image of a ravaged Detroit, but still home to the Fighting Irish. Other than that just another industrial town, where cars are still driven, but are now imported from foreign countries. Where they may be built cheaper, by paying a lesser wage, but without the heart and soul that kept the heartbeat of South Bend alive for so many decades. And wherever you see a vacant lot which used to be a factory, or an empty building in decay, the products are still used, just not made here anymore. Offshore they call it, I call it sad. For with it not only dies the town, but the people who live in it, only shells of what was, but not of what is to be. An industry still delivering what it promised, only the promises are lesser, and so they are easier to maintain. Compromise they call it, when it really is a betrayal of values.
It annoys me when I see two people disagree and then offer to "agree to disagree." What does that mean anyway? Compromise. And it is based on the lowering of values. And when you start to compromise, where do you stop? And as I watch compromise going on within the church, I hope you don't confuse Jesus Christ with the church. He never compromised-He paid it all. He endured the six hours on the cross for us. He rose again and promised we would too, if we repented and believed His promise. No compromise here-when He says all and forever, He means all and forever. Just like the simple agreement between two brothers, He means all. He is there for all who call, and loves you as you are. His promises are yes and amen-delivering far beyond anything you could ask for or imagine. A bar set so high that only in Christ can you attain it. So only He gets the credit. No compromises here-only the best. Something that religion promises, but has never been found to deliver yet. Only in Jesus.
And the reason we see so many old churches empty, the buildings decaying. They mirror what is going on inside, compromise of the gospel. Following a script of doing what the congregation wants to hear, not what God does. No talk of sin, or repentance, can't upset the flock. Teaching a word that is not found in the Word, a church only by definition, not of heart or of the scriptures. Compromise.
If your church looks like this, take the lesson of South Bend. Turn to Jesus before it is too late, before all you have to look to are memories. Keep the gospel simple, like the Studebaker brothers agreement-you trust God, and He'll take care of it all. A promise that He will more than deliver on.
And you thought Studebaker was just a car... and church was just a place to go. It's still all about Jesus.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com