Tuesday, February 10, 2009

today's renegade, tomorrow's hero

The pressure to be accepted by our peers can cause us to choose the path of convenience rather than the path of correctness.  Every so often someone comes along with a laser-like view of what is right.  Their focus is so intensely linked to a righteous cause that they are willing to be unpopular with many, if not most, during their lives in exchange for seeing the wrong righted.  During the heat of their lives, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. were despised by millions.  Yet they were not dissuaded from their quests.  There is a higher call than any man can issue and, though that call is available to every man, only a few are willing to sacrifice the praise of their contemporaries for a greater satisfaction than any man can offer.  Last night I re-watched the movie, "Amazing Grace" which is the story of one such man: William Wilberforce.  He stood, almost alone, in British Parliament against over 300 other members of that establishment for over 30 years and doggedly kept the issue of banning the slave trade before that ruling body.  Eventually he won and it was not because Parliament suddenly realized the error or the evil of slavery.  There is a need for persistence in the pursuit of such noble causes because men prefer convenience, comfort and the companionship of corruption but will finally bow to truth and right if that is the unrelenting force of a life surrendered to that higher call.  One line in the movie especially struck me when it was said that correcting one wrong doesn't correct every wrong, but correcting one wrong has an impact for right that goes beyond that one issue.  I don't think it can be overstated that one person surrendered to the call and the cause of the Lord can make a significant positive impact in this world if he is willing to be uncomfortable with men in order to make them uncomfortable with their Lord.
 
Proverbs 2:9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
      Equity and every good path.
       10 When wisdom enters your heart,
      And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
       11 Discretion will preserve you;
      Understanding will keep you
 
blessings,
Rob Smith

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