It was a hot summer day in July. My wife and I would be married in just a few hours, and I had secured the perfect getaway car. It was my wife’s dream car, so I wanted us to ride in it at least once in our marriage. She was a cherry red, white sidewalls, dual four-barrel, 245 horsepower, convertible, old-school, 1957 Chevy Corvette. She was beautiful, and my soon-to-be wife was ravishing as well — the perfect car, for the perfect lady, on our perfect day.
If only I had known how to drive a manual transmission.
We have been through seasons of great joy and excitement, such as when our three boys were born. We have also had times of disagreements and disappointments. Through it all, we have loved each other and stuck together.
South Carolina Baptists have led the way in showing the Southern Baptist Convention what it looks like to stick together regardless of disagreements and disappointments. We have been cooperating to send missionaries for more than 200 years. The foundation of our cooperative effort dates back 2,000 years to the early church. It’s an old-school approach to seeing new life transformation.
There have been times in our past where we have taken our eyes off the old-school mission and focused our attention and debate on the issue of the day. Only when we return to the heart of why we cooperate are we able to run at all cylinders.
We are a family of churches cooperating to advance the Great Commission together. The making of disciples includes evangelism and teaching new believers to obey the old-school teachings of Jesus to love God and love others. It is not necessarily a new approach we need, but a new passion and burden for those far from God of every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Maybe the “new” we need is something old that simply needs to be cranked up. In the process, a new generation of believers will see what it looks like to cooperate, sacrifice, and do something great. Cooperation is an ancient, simple process that never goes out of style.
It has been 25 years, and Leisa is still turning heads. I’m glad she said yes. We have been better together than we ever would have been separate.
Some things never go out of style.