The Finish Line
At this writing, I am on my 80th trip around the sun. And, I have discovered that wherever I have been in the past in head and heart, Jesus was always there. He never moved. When I wanted to give up on me, He never did. He simply called me to discovery and insisted on my presence.
Not long ago, a friend helped me create a personal mission statement. It’s my dream in 24 words:
“I exist to go adventuring with Jesus and friends of all ages, discovering truth, distilling it in story, and believing for an eternal legacy.”
The key words are adventuring, friends, truth, story, believing, and eternal. Begin with any one of those words and it takes you straight to JESUS. Not the nice-guy one. Or the what-a-fascinating-teacher one. But, rather, the Disturbing One. The King of all Creation. He who sings galaxies into existence. Lion of Judah and Lamb of God. Redeemer. Judge. The One who loves kids and kicks over the tables of those who charge for access to His Father. And, the One who says: I AM the Resurrection and the Life. That truth takes care of my past, gives me a future, and calls me to trust Him in everything. What a challenge!
Never was that more obvious than the years Ruth and I spent in Washington D.C., where I walked privately with men in places of leadership. In hundreds of conversations with people from every walk of life, belief system, and background, I learned a ton. My surprise was that almost none of them wanted to talk about Christianity as a belief system, but almost all of them were intrigued by Jesus of Nazareth. Me, too. And those words--friends, truth, story, believing, eternal--- frame Him for me. To finish well, I choose to hold those things close.
FRIENDS
Friends are good. But, to really love someone would be better, wouldn’t it? Because friendship sounds like a watered down form of love. Then I read Jesus more closely. The night before He goes to the cross, He gives the “here’s-what-you-really-need-to-understand” talk to his eleven closest followers. And, right in the middle, He says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Not a spouse or a child or a parent? No. For a friend.
TRUTH
We live in a day of designer truth. The accepted line is “Whatever is truth for you, go with that!” Make your own rules. Do what you feel.
That’s a joke, right? We don’t believe that for a minute about points in sports or the purity of water or having clean air. I am building a real life here. Sand is out. Bedrock is in. In a world of propaganda and spin, truth needs to win. When Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” I have come to believe that’s not a suggestion.
Whatever is true about life, purpose, people, relationships and money is to be found in the words and actions of Jesus of Nazareth. Explore those arenas and change happens.
STORY
True stories nurture friendship. If we share our stories, friendship has a chance. Without our stories, friendship has no chance at all. Most of all, if you follow Jesus and share your story, you automatically share His! In describing the battle of God’s people against the Evil One, Scripture says: “...they triumphed over him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.” I read that as “This is what Jesus did and this is what He is doing in me.” Now that’s Good News. Touchable and real. Like me, you have a story, and it needs to be shared.
BELIEVE
John, in his Gospel, lands right there. He wants us to trust. I love that great moment when someone asks Jesus, “What must we do to do the works that God requires?” Fair question, but His answer just stuns. “This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent.”
Isn’t the work of the Kingdom orphanages, big conferences, and the like? I don’t think so. That’s a result.
The work is believing.
ETERNAL
Finally, following Jesus is a walk with the Eternal. When I attach legacy to Eternal, I see children, grandchildren, and “greats.” I cannot choose for them. But I can believe for them. Especially, as they, like I, struggle here and there.
If asked “Are all your kids following Jesus?” I, at least, want to answer like a friend of mine: “Oh, yes. Just at different distances.”
So, here’s the hope: I believe that what we call the FINISH LINE is really the STARTING LINE for a stunning expression of the life that found me 72 years ago in the hills of south India. In that place, there will be no limits to adventure, friendship, story, truth, trust, and—yes—Jesus.
The best is most certainly yet to come!
Read more of The Finish Line by Richard Foth in Kinsmen Journal Volume 1 — Purchase here.
