Three Men and A Car (A Parable)

There was once an old car, abandoned in a forgotten barn, its metal frame rusted and its engine silenced by decades of neglect. Yet, even in its disrepair, it spoke to those who saw it: a promise of something that once was and could be again.

The first man discovered the car during a solitary walk. A lover of history and craftsmanship, he saw in the car a relic of a bygone era. Determined to honor its original glory, he began an exhaustive quest to collect every part needed to restore it.

Years passed as he scoured junkyards, attended auctions, and bartered with collectors. Piece by piece, the car came together. Every detail was authentic, every bolt true to its era. Finally, the day came when the car rolled out of his workshop, gleaming as if it had just left the factory decades ago. The man drove it with pride, cherishing every mile, until the ravages of time once again claimed it. No matter how meticulous his care, the car was bound by the same laws of entropy that had left it rusting in the barn.

The second man found the car not long after. Unlike the first, he had little patience for a perfect restoration. Instead, he set about rebuilding the car with practicality in mind. Using modern materials and tools, he repaired the frame, installed a new engine, and upgraded its systems. The car emerged transformed—not a replica of the past but a reflection of the present. It was reliable, efficient, and stylish in a way that paid homage to its origins while embracing progress. He drove it proudly for years, but even his upgrades could not withstand the relentless march of time. Eventually, the car grew old, its new parts aging just as surely as the original ones had.

The third man came across the car in a much-altered state. It had passed through many hands, its original form a distant memory. Yet this man saw something different in it—not just what it had been or what it was, but what it could become. Armed with technologies that didn’t exist when the car was first built, he reimagined it entirely. He replaced the internal combustion engine with an electric motor, integrated advanced materials to make it lighter and stronger, and added features that would have been unthinkable to its original creators.

The car was reborn, not as a relic or a hybrid of old and new, but as something entirely different. It no longer bore the limitations of its time; it was a creation for a new age. The third man drove it not only as a vehicle but as a statement of possibility, a testament to transformation.

Years later, the three men's grandsons met by chance, each sharing the story of their grandfather's time with the car. Though they marveled at one another’s work and they still debated which builder was the greatest.

The first man said, “My pop  honored the car’s soul, preserving its history for future generations.”

The second man said, “My granddaddy brought it into the modern age, making it useful and practical once more.”

The third man said, “My grandfather gave it a new life, unshackled by the past and prepared for the future.”

And so the debate raged on and on. Each man made his case, each passionately arguing the merit of his approach. The discussion grew louder and spilled out into the streets, where others joined in. Soon, the world was consumed by the question: Which man was greater? Each person’s answer reflected their own values, their own view of what it meant to create, to restore, to transform.

And the mass of humanity argued over the answer to that question for eons, each convinced their perspective was the only one.

Toward the end of the age- as the debate raged on - an old man passed by them walking with a cane.

Finally, someone who could possible solve the debate!

This elder stopped, pulled out an old Bible and began reading,

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. So says 1 Corinthians 3."

And the debate ended....... 

for a little while.......