January 19, 2000
CYBERCOLUMN:
Don't be careless
___A couple of weeks ago, I was in the middle of my post-holiday -and-welcome -to-the-new-year annual cleanup routine when I found one of my old journals. Inside the journal, I discovered some notes I'd written after the death of Rich Mullins, back in 1997. They were from a conversation I had with my friend and fellow writer, Bear Mills, about how we feltafter hearing of Rich's sudden death.
BERRY SIMPSON
___"I am hurting because I'm afraid there won't be another songwriter in my lifetime that will speak God's truth to me like Rich Mullins did," I said.
___Bear's response surprised me. He said: "At first I was heart-broken, but now I'm angry. How dare Rich Mullins not wear his seatbelt! How could he be so careless with a life we need so much."
___I thought about Bear's words for a long time after that day. In fact, they haunted me for months. Finding the journal and reading the entry brought it all back to mind. I'd never thought much about the responsibilities of leadership, other than the fact a leader should be prepared and make wise decisions. But there is more than that. A leader must take seriously the position God has given him. He has to keep the treasure safe, whether that means doing something as simple as wearing a seatbelt, or guarding against immorality and impurity.
___Now I know that if Rich Mullins himself had heard someone say, "How dare he be so careless when we need him so much," he'd have discounted the entire notion that he was so important and reminded us that we need Jesus, not songwriters. He said as much in many interviews.
___But that would only be part of the truth. The fact is that we need each other too. We need the unique gifts and ministries God has given to each Christian.
___The New Testament teaches that all Christians have spiritual gifts--specific gifts given to us by God to help us minister through our personalities and our own uniqueness. For some, the gifts might be hospitality, or exhortation, or wisdom, or teaching. For others it might be prophecy, expressed though songwriting. God gave us those gifts as opportunities, and we should be careful to use them often.
___I have thought about Bear's comment many times during the past weeks. Especially when I find myself hesitating to speak out when I know I should, or fearful of publishing a revealing personal story when I'm afraid it reveals too much. Why would I want to put myself so far out on the limb, knowing I'll probably be misunderstood? Why take the risk?
___Well, because people need me.
___Wow, that was hard to say. It's scary to be needed. What if I let everyone down? What if I stumble? And besides, isn't it a little presumptuous to say I'm needed?
___Of course, just like Rich Mullins, it isn't me people need; it's Jesus. But as God spoke to me through the ministry of Rich Mullins, God will speak to others through the gifts he has given me. I just have to get out of the way and stop fretting over how I feel, or whether public exposure is such a good thing, and let his gifts flow through me.
___ If God has given me, or anyone else, a gift of teaching, we need to be teaching often. If he's given the gift of communication through writing, well, we should write the lessons God has taught us. If he's given gifts of hospitality and comfort, then we should have our arms around someone every day. To do anything else is to be careless with God.
___It isn't a Sunday School class or even a cyber-reader I have to please; it's God. Either I take him seriously, or I don't. Either I behave carelessly, or I don't. Either I treat those God-given gifts and opportunities as obligations and treat them with respect, or I don't.
___To do anything less is as disrespectful as driving around town without a seatbelt.
___ Berry Simpson, a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer and mayor pro-tem of the city of Midland.
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