Original: January 14, 2008
McMinnville, OR
18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever. Psalm 37:18-19
Think about this statement: Men are attracted to greatness like they are to a beautiful woman.
If there is one struggle I see men wrestle over that is even more powerful than the temptation of lust it would have to be their fight for respect, manifested through greatness and achievement. Greatness, however, is difficult to achieve. Men spend a lifetime living vicariously through other men as sports fans, capitalist, movie stars, or politicians,
What is the first question men often ask each other: “What do you do for a living?” A man’s identity is often wrapped up more in what they do then who they are as a son of God. Furthermore, as men we often judge our masculinity based upon our success in those endeavors.
Beauty is a fleeting, superficial and subjective pursuit. It is truly in the eyes of the beholder. Greatness is much different. When you are in the presence of greatness you will know it. I have spent a lifetime reading great books written by great men and women and getting a hold of every great work I can get my hands on.
But yesterday I shook the hand of greatness.
Yesterday I was in the presence of greatness in the kingdom of God. Yesterday Wess Stafford, the President of Compassion International, spoke at our church and then at a special luncheon for our pastors. In humility he spoke with great passion of leading an organization going from five million to over 350 million dollars in its organizational budget under his servant leadership-over 84% going directly to children! I knew that as I listened to him speak I was standing on holy ground and in a defining moment in my life. I must confess something that I am ashamed of.
As I listened to him speak I looked over at his wife Donna and thought, “Oh, how I wish my wife could be married to a man like that.”
It was a moment of tremendous conviction and inspiration in my life. Great men inspire great things, but a great man (in God’s Kingdom) is hard to come by. Afterwards, as Shanna and I waited to talk to Wess, one of his employees shared with great passion and enthusiasm, “Wess is the greatest speaker, with the greatest focus, the greatest leader and the greatest man I had ever met.” It was in that moment I found myself in wholehearted agreement.
I believe that kingdom greatness is rare but like a big fish ripping out line, you know when you have hooked greatness. In other words, there is no question about kingdom greatness when you see it.
The few moments I got to spend with Wess were life changing as he encouraged my dreams by speaking Proverbs 3:5-6 into my life simply telling me that, “If you trust the Lord with all your heart, If you lean not on your own understanding and If you acknowledge him in all your ways, the he will direct your paths, Jim”.
Yesterday I was in the presence of a “blameless” man; a man who could also be called, “mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4). When I asked Wess how he keeps his passion so hot he simply said, “Jim, I am always just 10 seconds away from crying over children. I was created for this.”
Yesterday I was in the presence of greatness. Yesterday I met a man whose “inheritance will endure forever”.
