Make a difference

Small minds talk about people; average minds talk about events; great minds talk about ideas.

 A male relative on my father's side was described in this way: whatever he did, he managed to do it like he was fighting a fire.  For a Depression-era blue collar or agricultural worker, that was high praise indeed.  No matter what job you gave him, he attacked it with zeal and passion; he was solely focused on the job as if it were the most important thing in the world to him at that time.

I was reminded of that story as I scanned the radio dial last week, trying to find something worth listening to as I drove around town running my errands.  The all-sports station was airing a gossip piece about some professional ball-player's relationships with a semi-famous actress.  Small minds talk about people.  My favorite all-news station was talking about a plane crash at an air show in Nevada where the pilot and two spectators were killed.  (The death toll has now been raised to nine, as six of the wounded who were hospitalized in serious condition passed away).  Now, this was a more important story, but it was the hundredth time that day I had heard this story--it was like it was a slow news day, and this reporter just read the AP teletype as if he was reading the current weather report.  I heard no sadness for the families mourning their loved ones; I heard no suggestions of how such accidents could be avoided in the future; there was not even an analysis of the cost (in human lives) of air shows nation-wide each year.  Average minds talk about events.  

Next I tuned in to a Christian talk station, but they were doing a music segment.  Now, there is nothing wrong with listening to music, especially Christian music.  It is entertaining, and sometimes uplifting; but most of the time music on the car radio is background to conversations you have with your passenger, or secondary to the thoughts you entertain in your head: "I have to remember to pick up milk before I get home.  Home Depot has a sale on faucet covers.  Did I remember to cover my gas grill?  Oh, look, the gas gauge is on empty--I'd better go fill up."  And on and on it goes.  Mundane things, details of life that won't matter an hour from now, much less next year, or a decade from now, or after I am gone.

"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.  "Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless."  What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?  Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.  The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.  The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.  All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.  To the place the streams come from, there they return again.  All things are wearisome, more than one can say.  The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.  What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.  (Ecclesiastes 1.2-9)

We live in an age of information overload, where news of a Kardashian wedding (why is this family famous? what have they done? no, wait--I don't even want to know) gets the same attention as the war in Afghanistan.  No one ever hears of the work of the Lord, unless a missionary dies in a plane crash, or a priest gets indicted for sexual misconduct.

And it always seems like when we turn off the television and get back to building relationships with people, the first thing people talk about is what was on television last night.  People are more tuned in to pop culture than to the work of the ministry.  And when you try to encourage people in their Christian walk, they complain that their Bible study is dry--always reading about "So-and-so begat so-and-so", or "This tribe of Israel had six thousand men, and that tribe had eight thousand."

Life is hard.

We cannot be discouraged.

In order to get to the discussion of ideas, we have to disregard the gossip and direct conversations past events and toward ideas.  We have to remember that God is a creative God, and that His best idea was to have fellowship with us.  We must remember that God is a problem-solving God, and that when our biggest problem was separation from Him, He sent His Son to bridge that gap.  Sharing that message with people is the most important job we can have at any point in our lives.

We may praise those whose work ethic reminds us of fire-fighters.  But in the end, the whole world will be consumed with fire.  We have to be about saving people.  Not just people that will die without our help, but people that will die and go to hell unless we tell them about Jesus.  That is what gives our lives meaning.

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole purpose of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12.13-14)

Solomon concluded that life is meaningless without God, therefore our whole purpose is to keep His commands.  Jesus said the greatest commandment is this: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.  How do you show your love for God? By giving Him your heart, and doing everything you do for His glory.  How do you show your love for your neighbors? By showing them God's love.   How did God show His love for us?  "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5.8)

When we take that idea of God's sacrificial love for us-- when we dissect it and discuss it and take it to heart-- we are motivated to do something about it.  So don't spend your days chasing your tail, watching the sun come up and then go down. Don't spend your years talking about the weather or chasing the wind.  Make a difference in somebody's life today.  Tell them about Jesus.