EDITORIAL: Worse than crashing a $1.5M Ferrari

Posted: 3/30/07

EDITORIAL:
Worse than crashing a $1.5M Ferrari

Did you hear the one about the actor and the sportscar?

No joke. Comedian Eddie Griffin was practicing for a charity car race to promote his upcoming movie, Redline, when he lost control of a rare Ferrari Enzo and crashed it. (See the wreck on YouTube here.) Griffin totalled the car. It cost $1.5 million.

Wrap your brain around that: A $1.5 million red sportscar, gone in a nanosecond. Can you even comprehend anything on four wheels costing $1.5 million?

The car’s owner took the wreck pretty well. Redline producer Daniel Sadek reflected: “I’m glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed. I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes, and I thought: ‘There’s people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world.’”

Good for him. At least Sadek realizes the injury-free crash of a car, even a $1.5 million Ferrari, is not a huge loss. Worse things happen to people in practically every city and village around the world every day, even if they don’t make YouTube.

Bad for him. He wasted $1.5 million on a sportscar. Even if Griffin hadn’t run it into a wall, Sadek would’ve wasted money on that car. No automobile—not even one that will go 225 miles an hour—is worth that money. Especially when “there’s people dying every day” and “a lot of worse things are happening in the world.”

When I read about Griffin’s wreck, I couldn’t help but think about Baptists, and budgets, and a world of need. Seems like only movie people, sports stars and a few tycoons live in such rarified air that they actually know what the leather seats in a Ferrari Enzo smell like. But wealth is relative. If you’re following this editorial, you’re among the minority of global citizens who not only can read, but also can read the dominant language for commerce on the planet. If you’re part of a Baptist church in Texas or elsewhere in the United States, then no matter what your income may be, you’re among the richest people in the world, particularly compared to multiplied millions who live on less than $1 per day. Still, the greatest practical limitation to ministry is a shortage of cash. (I know: The bigger issue is a shortage of faith and a lack of spiritual maturity. We’ll get to that later.)

Whether we’re focusing on your local church or on the far-flung institutions and ministries of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the fact is the same. We could do more ministry if we had more money. Sure, we need volunteers to do much of the work. But we need cash to make the work possible, whether it’s providing support for people in need or reaching people who never have heard an understandable presentation of the gospel. Seven of the 20 poorest counties in the country are in Texas. Our state wallows near the bottom of multiple indicators of human misery. Millions of people in Texas never step over a church threshhold, much less even pretend to have a relationship with Jesus. We could do much to help them if we had more money.

A fairly common response to my recent editorial on creating “a new kind of convention” touched on this theme: “These ideas may be fine, but we don’t have enough money.” Right. Since Uncle Sam would frown if we started printing money in the Baptist Building basement, we’ve got two options:

• Convince Texas Baptists to give more.

This challenge is part spiritual, part confidence and relationship. Our churches and all God’s work would be stronger if God’s people began with a tithe and presented offerings on top of that. We need more preaching and teaching about the spiritual dimensions of faithful giving. Beyond that, the convention must strengthen its relationship with Texas Baptists and demonstrate that their Cooperative Program and offering contributions are the best use of their money. As noted before, the convention exists on behalf of the churches. The ministries our cooperative giving supports transcend the tasks we could do alone. We don’t give to a bureaucracy; we give to endeavors that change lives—both now and for eternity. If our relationships grow stronger and confidence increases, funding will follow.

• Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

As stewards of God’s resources, we must evaluate how we allocate church and convention funding—not against a zero base or alongside activity, but in light of effectiveness. No matter how well Texas Baptists give, we’ll always face other needs. So, we must be willing to make hard decisions about budgets and ministries. That can be painful, but probably not as painful as watching a comedian drive your car into a wall.