Hero or Zero
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through the one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Romans 5:12, 15
My son Jeffrey is a musician. A couple of years ago he wrote a song called “Run.” On the surface it is the story of one man, a deadbeat dad. Listen closer and you find a second man, the hero so to speak who takes up where the first man failed. Digging deeper still and knowing the songwriter I hear and see a picture of a couple of different events and people from his own life. The details are changed to protect privacy but the feelings are certainly there. To the deadbeat Jeffrey sings, “go on ya’ bum, go on and run.” Later as the man picking up the pieces he sings, “I gotta’ go. I gotta’ run.” The first is running from and the second is running to. I wonder if Jeffrey even begins to realize how many lessons, including a lovely spiritual one, are in that song. You could take it apart piece by piece and do quite a nice study on human behavior. As a mother and key player in Jeffrey’s life I identify with a lot in that song but listening to it yesterday I was taken by the idea of the one bad man and the one good one. Sound familiar?
Life imitates art they say. But I think art imitates life, as in everything, every thought, every object, every movie, every song, every novel, etc finds its origin in the Bible whether the thinker/ doer/creator knows it. The idea that one man’s actions can bring destruction and that another can come and save the day is not new or original. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jeffrey’s song. I think it is a great illustration of the battle between good and evil.
In the song a young woman has been left by what we gather was her boyfriend, left with a fist full of empty promises and a baby. Many, many years later the boyfriend returns. She no longer knows him and refuses to see him. In comes our hero who explains to “Mr. Johnny Come Lately” that he has stepped up to fill the void. The hero’s voice is much subtler than that however. The message is more you left her behind, empty and alone and now it is my privilege to have her by my side and call her my own. Now that my friends, sounds very familiar.
I can’t speak for you but I can speak to my own life and even my son’s life when I tell you that we have believed those lies at times. We’ve fallen prey to the call of the one man who brings death. Thankfully, we have realized the falseness of that voice and pray daily to hear and heed the voice of the One who brings life. Jeffrey and I along with the rest of my children were blessed to live this out in this world as well. Abandoned and mistreated by one man we were given the gift of a second man who loves and cares for us, as if to do so is indeed a privilege. That is for us, a small picture of the saving, merciful, perfect love of Christ.
Sometimes we think, what can I do? I’m only one person. If we will put our words and actions into God’s hands He will use us to be the one who brings life to a situation. If we believe the lies of the enemy we will join the myriad of people who prefer to bring gloom and maybe even death to a situation or worse, a life, a soul. It is a simple statement but true, each day we have to choose Christ, choose to be bearers of his perfect light. Walk in that light and be the hero and not the zero.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Romans 5:12, 15
My son Jeffrey is a musician. A couple of years ago he wrote a song called “Run.” On the surface it is the story of one man, a deadbeat dad. Listen closer and you find a second man, the hero so to speak who takes up where the first man failed. Digging deeper still and knowing the songwriter I hear and see a picture of a couple of different events and people from his own life. The details are changed to protect privacy but the feelings are certainly there. To the deadbeat Jeffrey sings, “go on ya’ bum, go on and run.” Later as the man picking up the pieces he sings, “I gotta’ go. I gotta’ run.” The first is running from and the second is running to. I wonder if Jeffrey even begins to realize how many lessons, including a lovely spiritual one, are in that song. You could take it apart piece by piece and do quite a nice study on human behavior. As a mother and key player in Jeffrey’s life I identify with a lot in that song but listening to it yesterday I was taken by the idea of the one bad man and the one good one. Sound familiar?
Life imitates art they say. But I think art imitates life, as in everything, every thought, every object, every movie, every song, every novel, etc finds its origin in the Bible whether the thinker/ doer/creator knows it. The idea that one man’s actions can bring destruction and that another can come and save the day is not new or original. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jeffrey’s song. I think it is a great illustration of the battle between good and evil.
In the song a young woman has been left by what we gather was her boyfriend, left with a fist full of empty promises and a baby. Many, many years later the boyfriend returns. She no longer knows him and refuses to see him. In comes our hero who explains to “Mr. Johnny Come Lately” that he has stepped up to fill the void. The hero’s voice is much subtler than that however. The message is more you left her behind, empty and alone and now it is my privilege to have her by my side and call her my own. Now that my friends, sounds very familiar.
I can’t speak for you but I can speak to my own life and even my son’s life when I tell you that we have believed those lies at times. We’ve fallen prey to the call of the one man who brings death. Thankfully, we have realized the falseness of that voice and pray daily to hear and heed the voice of the One who brings life. Jeffrey and I along with the rest of my children were blessed to live this out in this world as well. Abandoned and mistreated by one man we were given the gift of a second man who loves and cares for us, as if to do so is indeed a privilege. That is for us, a small picture of the saving, merciful, perfect love of Christ.
Sometimes we think, what can I do? I’m only one person. If we will put our words and actions into God’s hands He will use us to be the one who brings life to a situation. If we believe the lies of the enemy we will join the myriad of people who prefer to bring gloom and maybe even death to a situation or worse, a life, a soul. It is a simple statement but true, each day we have to choose Christ, choose to be bearers of his perfect light. Walk in that light and be the hero and not the zero.
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