Change and Decay

There's an interesting article in today's Houston Chronicle. More than twenty auto dealerships have gone bankrupt in the Houston area during the recent downturn in the economy. Most of the lots are still vacant. They are very difficult to sell. So, gone are the tacky trimmings, the metallic ribbons and the inflatable gorillas. Gone, also, are the oceans of steel and polished chrome. Instead, formerly mammoth stores like Bill Heard Chevrolet are home to drifters and drug dealers; grass pushes up between the cracks on acres of concrete.

Realtors have been trying to sell expensive frontage to commercial customers, but no one is biting. Larger areas, further away from the roads, would be ideal for new hotel developments, but there are many hotels in Houston at less than full occupancy, so no one is building new ones. The huge, 40 acre site in Hempstead, formerly home to Lawrence Marshall Chevrolet ("We clobber big city prices") is 90% unoccupied. Only one small parcel has been taken over by a country store, which moved out from the town center. The remainder is a stark reminder of what was, once, the largest volume Chevy truck dealer in the nation.

What is so upsetting about empty car dealerships? Obviously, they can quickly become an eyesore, and they do attract crime. Many of the vacant dealerships have been stripped bare. But the problem is deeper than appearance. Cars represent something ingrained in the American psyche. They represent freedom, the mobility we all need to succeed in our fast paced world. An empty car lot seems to spell failure, not only for an individual entrepreneur, but for the entrepreneurial culture. An abandoned car lot seems to say "Our culture has failed. Capitalism has failed. No more Chevys by the levy. No more American pie."

So, what do abandoned churches say? That God has left the room? That Christianity no longer has a place in our modern society? And where are the articles bemoaning the loss of something precious in our culture? Or, do we value Chevrolets more than the Savior?