Jeremy Myers
I met Mr. Jim Cox sometime in 2005.
As I reflect back, I can still see his face. His eyes were always filled with compassion and joy, and he had a wildly contagious, if not a little mischievous, smile that could light up a room. I’m not 100% sure what the first words he spoke to me were, but I’m fairly certain our first conversation after I joined the pastoral staff at the church he attended was a math problem: “Can you tell me what 1+1+1 equals?”
Math has never been my strong suit. This, however, was an equation for which I had more than enough fingers to solve. I quickly and confidently provided the obvious answer, “1+1+1 equals 3.” Jim chuckled and shook his head to indicate my error. “No, Rev. Myers. 1+1+1 does not equal 3. 1+1+1 equals 900.”
Again, I’m no mathematician, but one of three things had to be true. Either elementary school math had failed me horribly, my new friend was crazy or I was missing something.
While I didn’t know much about Jim at that moment, I did know one very important detail. He was a very successful accountant, owning the company that managed the accounts for some of the biggest names in poultry, Tyson being one. It’s true, Jim was a little bit crazy, but the best kind of crazy. It also was true I was missing something. I was doing simple addition, while Jim was doing a special kind of advanced calculus.
Jim’s 1+1+1 question was actually much more than a math problem. It was a strategy for sharing the good news of Jesus with our community and for helping them find a place to belong and become in our church.
Jim explained to me that the first 1 in the equation represented each individual in the church, the second 1 represented someone they would commit to reach out to and invite to join them at church with compassion, grace and more than a little determination and the third 1 represented someone to whom the first and second would then pursue together. Each 1 didn’t just represent 1 person, but 300, starting with the 300 on our active church rolls.
Jim’s vision was to triple the size of our church, not so others could see how awesome our church was or for the resources they could give to us but because of how awesome Jesus is and because he believed we had something worthwhile to offer our community.
And Jim Cox put his money where his mouth was. He invested his money to start a weekly family movie night, a weekly family dinner and to help fund two staff members, one full time and one part time, to focus on hospitality and outreach in our church. One of those two staff members was my wife, who served as my paid assistant.
Never in my life have I known someone who so passionately, sacrificially and humbly lived out the truths of the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39) and Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). He put a great deal of energy and not a small amount of his personal resources into loving neighbor as self, and Jim Cox was dedicated to helping people find and follow Jesus everywhere he went.
Last week, my friend Jim Cox passed away. I must confess, I am sad and my heart hurts. I found myself lamenting that the world is just a little bit less joyful and a little bit darker without Jim in it. But something in me quickly told me my calculus was once again incorrect. It didn’t take much to imagine Jim himself looking at me with those kind eyes and bright smile shaking his head and laughing at my error.
Jim didn’t just promote a 1+1+1 church growth strategy. Jim lived a 1+1+1 life. How many lives must Jim have impacted through his efforts over the course of 87 years of life? I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count that high.
The truth is, the world is a brighter and better place because Jim was in it. Though his light no longer shines in our world, there are countless lights that shine because of his investments and influence. I know I and several of my close personal friends are more compassionate, gracious and outward-reaching people because we knew and served with Jim Cox.
We each have one life to live, one life to share. But each of our ones increases exponentially when we live them with purpose and passion to reach others with the grace of the gospel.
May we all have 1+1+1 hearts, consistently considering how we can share the love of Jesus in meaningful ways with whomever we meet and wherever we go. If we did, the world would unquestionably be a little bit kinder, a little bit warmer and a whole lot brighter.
The Rev. Jeremy Myers is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Seymour. Read his blog at jeremysmyers.com. Send comments to [email protected].