My wife and I had the uncomfortable experience this week of putting together our Will. I say uncomfortable because honestly how many people like to sit down to a nice cool class of iced tea and discuss the light and airy topic of death? You see, a friend of ours from Parkview came over and all three of us sat down at our dining room table and discussed the greatest “What If” question anyone could ask. “What if you died?” I know, I know many of you just solidified your answer of “no” if ever asked to come over for dinner with Cherie and I, but believe me we don’t always talk about the deep stuff. Sometimes we discuss lighter topics like predestination vs. free will, Calvinism vs. Arminism, or whether or not animals have souls. So come on over!
In all seriousness, this Will and Testament deal did make us stop and think about some very tough decisions. Sure a great deal of our discussion was spent on who got what stuff and how much of our little estate would go to him or her, but it made me also wonder about what type of legacy I would be leaving behind too. What would people say about Brian Hunt after I was gone? Would people remember me or would I just be a blip on this radar screen called life? Would I have somehow carved my name in the cement of our culture so that everyone knew I was here? If the people I came in contact with over the course of my life heard of my death would they think back to good memories or bad ones?
Would people even make an effort to come to your funeral or would they put the same amount of effort into you as you did to them? Now I’m not asking you to start making a list of people you want at your funeral and begin the RSVP process or anything like that. But I am asking you to consider this; if the light switch of life was turned off right now, what would you want people to say or remember about you? Granted it is very clear in the Bible that we are not saved or defined by our works alone, but what would you want rattled off about you as people reflected on your life? Or better yet, what would you want God to say about you after you have completed your mission here on Earth? If the God of the Universe was given the microphone at your funeral and was given a few minutes (FYI- I would hate to be the person given the job of telling God He had a time limit) to say a few words about you, what would He say?
My prayer for you is to start living dangerously. I pray that you take a sledgehammer to your comfort zone and destroy it. Leave it behind with a huge God-sized hole in it so that anyone that passes by to look at your former life will know without a shadow of a doubt that you are living completely for Christ. That cocoon you used to live safely within restricted you from spreading your wings and flying. Let me ask you, how many butterflies do you see rolling around in the dirt? None, zero, nada. That is because they are a new creation created to do greater things than did before. They leave their old dirt behind and soar to new heights.
I want to encourage you to look at this journey to Lockport as your chance to spread your wings, make an impact in our world, and a leave a legacy worthy of God bragging about when you are gone. Whatever you do, don’t be a butterfly stuck in the mud. Remember, you are new creation created to amazing things for God!
So before the lights go out, live dangerously and start writing your name in some wet cement!
All For His Glory,
Brian Hunt
Campus Pastor
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