Defining Moments
Recently my wife and I attended a movie titled “Overcomer” produced by the Kendrick Brothers. I will not take the time to go into a lot of the story but there was a short conversation that took place between a blind and dying man and the coach of a local Christian school. The coach mistakenly entered a hospital room where the man was. He began to grumble about the fact he had been asked to coach a cross-country team consisting of one young girl. In the ensuing exchange the sick man asked, “When I ask you who you are what is the first thing that comes to mind?” His answer was what one usually says about family connections and then something about being a Christian.
Related to what is being discussed here I believe a second question that could be asked is, “What are the circumstances in your life’s journey that cause you to relegate your relationship with Christ to third, fourth or even lower place in priority.”
The patient in this moment made a statement that help the coach redefine his view of his walk with Jesus. He said, “Your identity will be tied to whatever you give your heart to.” The intertwining chain of events of his life will ultimately shape every person’s view of God. The last quote from the dying man was, “When you find your identity in the One who created you it will change your perspective.” My hope as you and I look at the defining moments to follow it will change our view of the special relationship we have with Christ.
As I have considered many times the direction my own life, I have often asked the question, “What if”. What if I had made other choices or taken a different path in life, what would have been the end results? For most of us that kind of decision come too late or the urgency of the present get in the way of giving careful thought to the future or the consequences of the decisions we make. Quite often emotions play a part in the road we follow. Sometimes what we do is based on the old idea that “the grass is greener than where we find ourselves. Job, educational opportunities, friendships and a very important one the person we marry changes our outlook on the future.
So why is this idea of defining moments of such interest to me? Even though I did not realize it at the time there was a time that I believe was a true turning point in my life. At the age of nine I accepted Christ as my Savior and was baptized. Although I have attended Sunday School and Worship pretty faithfully over the years, I now see that I was on cruise control doing just enough to be able say I was a Christian. In my late twenties I actually began teaching a group of eleven-year old boys. In spite of my incompetence many are still faithful to God to this day. An event in nineteen seventy-three brought a major defining moment and turning point in my life. At that time a number of adults took the youth and some young adults on a weekend retreat. Sometime during those two days I came to the realization that I was shortchanging the young people and myself because I truly did not know the very word of God that I was supposed to be passing on to them. The time away from the normal activities of life the Lord led me to a decision to finally begin spending time in His Word, as I should have been doing all along. That was my defining moment. Here I am forty-six years later still committed to doing everything I can to follow what Ezra wrote. “Ezra set his heart to study the law (the Word of God) of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes (Scripture) and ordinances in Israel” (Chesterfield County). Ezra 7:10 (Parenthesis mine) From then until today this has been my passion, drive etc.
So, what is meant by defining moments. Because I believe that the Bible is the Word of God, it did not take me long to decide as I have done in other studies to look to His what He provided for us for answers. I found in the stories of the people written about in Scripture a clear picture of the effect that choices made had on not only that person’s life, but in a greater sense the history of mankind. As I began to look at this subject I decided to base what I wrote on the idea that in every person’s life there is that one moment or moment when an act is committed or a decision is made that often sets the course of a person’s life from that point on. After I began to study, I came to the conclusion, from looking into the lives of the people found in the Bible, that life is more like a journey with many such moments. The incidents or happenings might be symbolized as forks in the road. Each time one approaches the fork it will produce either a positive or negative influence thus moving one into a life of good or evil. In the final analysis what man does is either in obedience to God or rebellion against Him. Man, in a way sets his own destiny with the way he responds to his defining moments.
This idea might be compared to the methods used in some of the witnessing tools developed by different ministries. The strategy uses a number of questions that can be answered with either a yes or no. Depending on the response from the person to with whom the gospel is being shared the conversation comes to a close with a no answer or the presenter is able to proceed on to the next step if a person responds positively. Hopefully, the person witnessing is able to lead the other person into becoming a follower of Christ.
Before we get into the Bible characters, it has been interesting to me how those who have impacted history reached their place of influence. What was the event or events in their lives that put them on the path they took? One of those individuals is Charles Spurgeon the great English preacher who lived in the 1800’s. In his biography W.Y. Fullerton wrote of the journey that led him to Christ. Even though he had wrestled with his decision for some time it took an odd set of circumstances that brought about his conversion. According to the author during a snowstorm in January 1850 the young Spurgeon was unable to get to the church he normally attended. He wound up at a Methodist Church where a layman was preaching because the minister was not able to make it. The message that day struck a chord in the heart of the young man, when the speaker pointed at him stating, he needed to look to Jesus for salvation. There are a number of others who have a fascinating history such as Martin Luther, William Wilberforce, who spent forty years fighting against slavery, and John Newton, a slave trader turned to Christ in the midst of a terrible storm at sea. He later became a minister and mentor to William Wilberforce. He is probably, best known today as the writer of “Amazing Grace”.
With that introduction we will now turn to what the people of the Bible have to teach us. From the very beginning of God’s story there is plenty of evidence in the history of mankind to learn about each man’s defining moments and the consequences that came as a result of them.