A life for others
Everyone has a story, and Lorax (nickname for this blog) was no different.
I met Lorax last week at the beach. He was about 70 years old, and I noticed was that his left hand was paralyzed, from some type of stroke I imagined. Little did I know what I would soon learn.
Lorax was authentic. He did not meet a stranger, whether they spoke the language or not. He had a booming voice, and everyone he met was a new friend.
At breakfast one morning, I spent some time with Lorax. I learned that, at 18 years old, he found himself on the border of Cambodia. He was a gunman in a helicopter in the Vietnam War. Every day, EVERY DAY, a gun battle would break out in the jungle, and his unit was called in to attack from the air. Lorax told me that every day, bullets would whiz past his head, and he knew it was a matter of time.
Then, it happened. On Valentine’s Day 1970, he took three bullets to his right shoulder, arm, and leg. A medic threw his body over him to attempt to lessen the bleeding. Over the next year, he would be transported to military hospital after military hospital until finally making it back home.
As I listened to him tell me his story, I peered into his eyes thinking about what he had seen, what he had been through, the fortitude within him. He put his life before others to defend our country. Lorax, and so many others, have a bravery that I really can’t comprehend. And, he had an appreciation, a thankfulness for his life, for what he had been given, and for all that life offered.
I couldn’t help but reflect on my own life. This man had the fortitude to head into war for the ultimate sake of others. Do I have this passion for others?
What do we naturally want in life? If we are honest, maybe the list looks something like this: respect, comfort, smooth future, wealth, materialism, health, success, admiration, adoration, happiness, love, stability.
The desires on the list may not be noticeable by looking at the surface of one’s life, but they certainly drive actions. Many of the desires on the list are great life goals. However, when you read the list again, most of the desires on the list are “achieved” by comparison to others. So, maybe the “want list” can be best summed up by saying that we have a natural desire to be greater than others. We are born with it. If you don’t believe it, ride around in a car with a group of 14-year-old-boys for a few minutes.
What it takes for a man to set self aside completely to elevate others!
Paul had a story as well. As a young man, Paul was a passionate, skilled defender of the law. Some believed him to be on the Sanhedrin, the governing Jewish council in Jerusalem. No doubt, Paul knew people. He was a scholar, respected, feared, admired, and had most of the things on the “want list” above. There was no resistance in his life. He carried the big stick.
At about age 30, Paul was chosen to be a follower of Christ on the road to Damascus. He gave his former life up to follow Christ. Paul did not say it like this, of course. Paul pointed to God’s grace for changing the direction of his life. It was by grace that he was chosen. He was selected for this work, given a new life, given true freedom.
But, he was also beaten, stoned, ship-wrecked, thrown out of town after town, thrown in jail multiple times, and died a martyr’s death. Why? Because he gave up a life of worldly success to follow Christ. Because he believed in Jesus. Paul’s was not a quiet belief, but it was his all. Christ was always at the tip of his tongue. When he visited towns, he didn’t go in with the intention of trouble. When he walked into town, he went to the synagogue. In addition to the Old Testament Law that those in the synagogue would have known, he shared that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah mentioned in the Old Testament Law. The majority could not handle that truth and turned on Paul. Major friction ensued.
Toward the end of his life, Paul wrote a letter to the first church that he started in Philippi. He pens the following words, expressing his thoughts on serving others.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:1-4
Paul writing these words truly means something. This man, didn’t just write it, he lived it. Paul completely put his life aside for the sake of others.
I can say the same thing about Lorax. He completely put his life aside for the sake of others.
True joy will never be found when one makes enough money to relax at the beach. True joy will never be found when when one is able to purchase that “forever home” that they have always dreamed of. True joy will never be found when one makes it to the top of the corporate ladder and has the title and respect to go with it. All of this will come up empty.
True joy is found in a life emptied out serving others. This is extremely difficult to do in a culture that glorifies selfish ambition. Christ said it the following way.
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:42-45
A life that is put in the hands of Christ is a life that will be lived for others.
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