Tesla Model S & the church

  I like cars.  There's no denying that.  I like keeping up with what's going on in the car world, and I find new designs and new models endlessly fascinating.  If I had an unlimited budget and no guilty conscience (I doubt either one of those will happen), I'd get a new car every 6 months.

  I'm also very aware of how dangerous cars are.  Driving is the single most dangerous thing most of us ever do, and we do it every day, often without thought as to how dangerous it is.  (I suppose if we really thought about it, we'd probably never just 'run out for milk', so maybe it's a good thing that we don't think about it much.)  Those billboards over the freeway are all-too-present reminders of how dangerous driving can be, reminding us how many people went out for a drive and never came home.  The roads can be scary places, and every time I'm stuck in a traffic jam on the freeway I try to remember to be more grateful that I'm safe than frustrated that I'm late.

  So when I saw the headline that said that Tesla claimed that its Model S set the record for safety tests, I was intrigued.

  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn't release anything above five stars, but they apparently have a combined score beyond the stars, and the Model S set a new record.  My favorite part of the article, however, was down near the bottom, where they were talking about the rollover ratings.

For the rollover test, which checks the vehicle’s resistance to the crushing forces of a rollover crash, a machine applies force to the car’s roof. But the machine broke at around the 4g mark, which is beyond the federal standard.

  That's right.  Tesla made this thing so safe and so strong that it broke the machine.  They didn't set out to merely meet the standards--they exceeded them by so much that it's rollover safety can't be measured.  That should make you feel pretty safe.

  All of this got me thinking about the church and the members that comprise it.  I am sure there are studies that can say what society expects of the church, how they expect us to be good people and good employees and love other people and be generous.  I am sure there is a general expectation of the kind of people Christians are supposed to be.  (Some of that probably isn't so flattering, but that's another issue)

  What if we so deeply imitated the selfless love of Christ that we shattered the world's expectations?  What if we were so willing to set aside our own priorities and agendas and serve those around us to such an extent that people didn't even know how to react to it?  What if we were so filled with the kind of love Christ demonstrated that we broke the mold for the way we have traditionally aspired to 'do church'?

  Like the Samaritan woman at the well, whose astounded testimony led an entire village to meet Christ, I believe our selfless love would cause others to come and see, to meet the Risen Lord and experience his love and grace.  They would want to see for themselves, to experience his love for themselves, and the world would be a different place.

  Just imagine what it might be like if we broke the machine.