Reality Check: What Really Matters?

Today was quite a wake-up call for me.  As I was sitting around feeling down about not having a job, contemplating what my next move should be, I received one of those phone calls no one likes to get.  On the other end was my mother informing me that our mutual friend Jim had died.  While distance didn't afford me the privilege of spending a lot of time with Jim in the later years, I always treasured every minute we had together.  More on that in a moment. 

When someone thinks of Jim three things automatically come to mind.  There was Jim's ownership and management of THE town restaurant.  I don't mean to imply that I came from a town SO small that no other restaurants existed.  They did and still do.  But everybody knew, (and I daresay still knows), that anything of significance that happens in the town is in one way or another impacted by the Court Restaurant.  There's a reason for that.  People always went there and still go back there because they know they're always welcomed, and it always feels a lot like home without the cooking and cleaning that goes with it.  No, this isn't an advertisement for a restaurant disguised as a blog, but an appreciation for somebody who could always make you feel at home even when you weren't.  That was Jim, and everybody knew it. 

One could not be around Jim for very long without finding out how much Christ meant to him. Jim took his responsibility as a witness for Christ very seriously.  Jim never needed the cue cards from Evangelism Explosion or the Four Spiritual Laws pamphlets to share his faith, his testimony spoke for itself.  Rescued out of the Satanic jaws of alcoholism, Jim never "got over" what Jesus did for him.  Jim never had to push or prod to get a response.  More often than not, by the time Jim was finished, you naturally wanted what he had -- or should I say WHO he had. 

There is a third characteristic for which I will always remember Jim: he was always an encourager.  By the time I met Jim, I had been saved several years and was just cutting my teeth in  preaching and teaching.  I always loved preaching at his church because I always knew he would have something good to say no matter how much my sermon or lesson may have lacked.  If I knew I didn't do as well a particular day, I knew I wanted to do even better the next time around, if for no other reason than to not make Jim a liar.  Jim was in many ways for me what Barnabas was for Paul: someone who had God's eyes to see me at my best even when I wasn't.  In addition to all of the people Jim personally impacted Jim now also shares in the glory of impacting many people he has never met, including those people along the way who I may get to touch.

A lot of people seem to think that it is their job to point out the faults and shortcomings of others.  I know there's a place for tough love, but if there's one thing Jim's life teaches, it is that encouragement is often much more potent and life-changing than critique.  Yes, there is a legitimate place for critique.  After all, it is hard to improve if you don't know how to improve. But Jim understood something few of us ever learn: change doesn't come apart from motivation, and motivation rarely comes without encouragement. Jim had a knack for being able to make people want to get rid of their worst characteristics by always  magnifying their best ones. The "bad stuff" always semed so out of place, so unnecessary by the time Jim finished noticing your strengths. It really makes you wonder what life could really be like with even just one "Jim" in all of our lives. 

I had more degrees than Jim, more biblical knowledge, and had been a lot more places.  But I certainly didn't have more wisdom or godly character than Jim.  He had surpassed me long ago.  What I had just begun preaching by Word, he had, for decades previously, preached By Example.   

Thoughts of Jim's life leave me with some questions for thought. Who needs our encouragement to be brought to the next place God has for them?  Who are we too quick to criticize without even stopping to consider if it's encouragement they really need first?  Do our friends, family members, and even our enemies, (see Mt. 5:44), know how much they mean to us, or are they secretly cowering in hidden fear of our next veiled criticism in the form of a not-so-funny "joke?" And, last but certainly not least, who are we taking for granted by assuming they will always be there?  If we take these questions seriously, there is no telling how many people we may impact for God's glory and his kingdom, let alone how much better life will be down here.  Jim certainly understood the power of encouragement, and that, more than anything else, made Jim one very special friend. 

Thank you for teaching us about life through your life, Jim.  You will be greatly missed for a while.  In the meantime, we will do our best to practice the lessons your life left behind.  See you soon!

 

In Christ,

Mike