Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Monday August 16, 2010

You never know just where and from whom you will read a phrase that grabs your attention but I experience this wonder often. Over many years and many hours I watched/heard Tom Brokaw spew forth the news. I never paid much attention until I read "The Greatest Generation." Then again on June 30th this year a statement from Tom ran across the old white screen on the computer. It caught my attention, so, as usual when this happens; I speared it, cataloged it and now share it with you:

"It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference."

Humans for the most part are so wrapped up in making a buck that their life makes very little difference in the life of those around them. The times we are now living in do make it harder to make a buck, but the toughness of this time demands more than ever that we strive to make a difference. This is especially true for men of my calling and also for all who name Christ. In this vapor we call life, we must seriously ask, "Am I making a difference in people's life and if so; How?" A long inquisitive list could follow with such questions as, "Is this difference temporal or eternal?" In our world saving face has become more important than truth, thus we live for ourselves and to finance this fallacy we must have ever more bucks. C.S. Lewis wrote in "A Preface to Paradise Lost" this truly profound thought:

"In the midst of a world of light and love, of song and feast and dance, [Lucifer] could find nothing to think of more interesting than his own prestige."

In order to make a positive eternal difference in someone's life you have to convince the person that you have their best interest at heart. And this must be true, else you are a charlatan. When you do this you will find two competing forces working within your heart; one is the knowledge that this effort may cost me; prestige, acceptance by peers, translating into the loss of bucks. On the other hand, God put this person in my path so that I, of all the humans on earth may, in the name of Christ, make a difference. In theory the choice is simple; will I choose eternity or bucks? In practice, due to our as yet imperfect fellowship with Christ, who gave it all, earthly power, prestige, bucks and precious blood, (You should study the biblical meaning of "precious") for our eternal benefit, will I make the right choice? Probably not. Protecting self always conflicts with the sacrificial life to which we are called by our Lord.

I wonder if Tom Brokaw really understands this. Do you?

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2010 Use with credit.

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