Choice
Some weeks ago I spoke to the Church on the subject of choice. In view of the front page DENVER POST article, on Sunday, July 17th., regarding Denver’s new mayor and the choice he made, contrasted to the choice his friend made, I thought it well to present the topic to you.
Some ‘wag’ has observed that “life is nothing more or less than living out the consequences of choices that were made at an earlier time. “To a large degree I am inclined to agree.
A years back I visited a friend in a large southwest city. He wanted to show me something, he thought might be of interest to me. He took me to the apartment of a young couple who, at one time attended the Church he was attending. They had made certain choices and had quit attending Church and were pursuing an alternate lifestyle.
To say the least, the apartment in which they were living was ‘pitiful’. After introductions, I was shown their only child, lying on a pallet of blankets, on the floor. The child appeared to be some 5 to 6 years old. He was totally oblivious to me and my friend. His body was distorted, his brain not functional, he was utterly helpless. I was told that before and during pregnancy the father and mother were heavy drug users. The child was born a drug addict. The pathetic condition of the child was the direct result of the choice and choices the parents had made. And, we are all affected by their choice. The social security service administration was paying the parents to care for their own child. That income was, at the time, their chief source of income. The child had made no choices. However, the life he was confined to was the direct result of the choice the parents had made. That boy is by all probability not the only child falling into that category. The fact is, until we reach a certain age, each and all of us are circumscribed by the choices made by others.
It can truthfully be said “to live is to choose, for ourselves and others”.
Ruth and I married in 1948, a choice we made. We were both young. I had no money. I did have a pretty good mind, a strong back, and a good work ethic. I was in my Junior year in college. I took a job with a local grocery company called “HONEST JOHN’S”. John Runtan had started the company. He was an older man when I worked there. There were several of us young fellows who worked at the store. Mr. Runyan liked to talk with us and give us advice. This particular piece of advice I have kept for some sixty-three years. “Unless you are born to money, you must ’do without’ at least one time in your life. While you are young and working, you can ’do without’ … get an education .. Save your money .. Seek council in investing and purchasing and have money and comfort when you are older. OR, you can spend your money as you make it, making no provision for another day .. And ’do without’ when you are older and can’t work and provide for yourself. It’s all a matter of choice.”
From a religious perspective, I have found Moses’s statement to the Israelites .. Shortly before his death and their entering into the land of Canaan, to be most compelling. (You will find the statement in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 30 and verses 19&20.) He said, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and cursing, therefore choose life, that both you and your descendents may live”. It is interesting to note that their choice would affect them .. And their posterity. All of us know of instances where the choices of the parents produce either advantage of disadvantage to their offspring.
With regards to Moses’s admonition to “choose”. it should be noted that he was speaking from experience. Years earlier he had been confronted with a choice. After having been rescued from the Nile river by Pharaoh’s daughter, he spent the first 40 years of his life as an Egyptian. However, something within himself made him to know that he was a Hebrew. A member of the very people who were now slaves to the Egyptians. There came a day when he made his choice. The author of the book of Hebrews (chapter11: 24--26) states “by faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing, rather, to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure of Egypt; for he looked to the reward”.
In our lives it might serve us better if we would looked a bit further down life’s road and envision that for which we strive. Doing that would help us make better decisions and choices.
It is well to remember that, with the best of intentions, things do not always turn out as we envisioned. Some choices prove to have far better consequences than we had envisioned .. Others have worse.
For the most part, we do not make choices ‘out of the blue’ there are factors involved in the choices we make. Among them: 1) the circumstance in which we find ourselves; 2) Fear; 3)Anger; 4) Influence of friends; 5) Family and professional ties; 6) Efforts to serve and following the leading of the Lord. (Just to name a few.)
With regards to “efforts to serve and follow the Lord”, there is a most interesting parallel of two who knew Jesus from his earlier ministry. One a woman, the other a man .. Mary, sister to Martha and Lazarus and Judas Iscariot, follower of Jesus from the days of his baptism. Mary, who along with her siblings, hosted Jesus on various of his stay’s in Judea. She is the one who anointed our Lord with costly ointment, amid severe criticism. She immortalized herself with that sacrificial anointing. She and her sister had battled doubts and fears with death of their brother. The prospects of the Messiah’s ’actual crucifixion’ was a truth too difficult to comprehend. ..but, she made a choice to believe that he was the son of God. Her choice .. Her faith were wonderfully rewarded on that day of his resurrection.
Judas, on the other hand, immortalized himself by surrendering to his doubts and fears and chose to betray the one who had so severely, disappointed him. Judas had envisioned an earthly Messiah … a new David to occupy the Jewish throne. He was with Jesus when he rejected the kingship. At that point he made his decision .. This man was not the Messiah, he chose to betray him. The outcome of his earthly and eternal destiny was determined by choice … as is ours.
These two people are immortalized in our thinking. Mary as a source of inspiration to all who follow and make sacrifices in the name of Jesus. And Judas, as a ‘by-word’ for one who, deeply involved, looses faith and betrays.
None of us are exempt from making wrong choices. I would have been much better off, financially, had I made different choices. By God’s grace and mercy, I have not made any choices that have adversely affected my relationship with God, my family, the Church, or my ministry.
I know the Lord receives great glory from the life of one who has made wrong choices, and who have, later, changed course and owned Jesus as Lord. Saul of Tarsus ever stands as the prime example in this venue. I believe, however, that there is a great, if not greater, glory in the life of one who early made the right choice and never departed from it. Perhaps, the Rev. Billy Graham is a modern day example.
All my ministry I have had to rely upon secular income to maintain it. In that respect, I have paid very close attention to those men who have been, or seemed to be, profoundly successful, in the secular field of Endeavour
Four individuals are stamped, indelibly, on my mind: Robert E. Lee, Theodore Roosevelt, R. G. Letourneau, and in recent years Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. I want to take a moment to note ‘one choice’ each of these three men made and consider the consequence and profound impact of those choices made on their lives .. The lives of their fellowman .. Their family .. And their legacy.
First, Robert E. Lee: Born into a prominent and wealthy Virginia family; a graduate of West Point Military Academy (with highest possible scholastic standing); married to Martha Washington’s granddaughter; owner of the estate known as ARLINGTON, now a national cemetery; General in the U.S. Army; offered the position of commander of the Northern forces by President Lincoln, during the Civil War. He made a monumental and determining CHOICE. A choice which adversely affected his family .. His financial future .. His national legacy .. and, more importantly, the lives of thousands of men who fought on either side of the conflict.
He made a choice to reject Mr. Lincoln’s offer, on what was said to be “his devotion to the state of Virginia and his family standing in the state”. History has shown his choice to have been ‘very short sighted’, and in my opinion, extremely selfish.
I add, at this point, he was a dedicated believer in the Christ and His Church. (Our faith does not at all time and under all circumstances, avert us from wrong choices.) As difficult as it may be, and as best we can, it behooves us to give fore-thought to the consequences decisions which confront us and the choices we make.
Mr. Lee lost the war. His mission was doomed from the start. The south did not have the money, the man power or the manufacturing capability to defeat the North .. And, without a prejudice view-point, their cause was unjust. Had he made the better choice, he would have won the war. He would have saved his Arlington Estate. He would have been elected president .. He would have become a National Hero. The war would not have lasted so long .. Thousands, of the seven hundred and fifty thousand who died in the war, would have survived. (Some have estimated that half million men would have not been sacrificed had Mr. Lee become the North General.)
I do not propose to castigate Mr. Lee for his choice, by all probability, he made his choice with the best of intentions. BUT, it was a wrong and disastrous choice. A choice which had and has no redeeming value. I chill when I think what he might have become had he made the better choice.
Secondly, Theodore Roosevelt. He became president upon the assignation of president McKinley. He was young. He came from an affluent and politically powerful New York family. He had served as Governor of the state. He had fought in the Spanish-American War in Cuba. He had been Secretary of the Navy. He finished McKinley’s term, was elected president on his own in 1905. He chose to not seek re-election and supported William Howard Taft. Roosevelt was a most energetic man and soon realized he had made a very bad choice in not seeking re-election. When Mr. Taft sought re-election, Mr. Wilson won the election on the Democratic ticket. He died 7 years later, at 60 years of age.
His drive .. His energy .. His vision possessed him. He tried other outlets, to no avail. Had he not made a wrong choice and sought re-election in 1909 he would have left a far greater legacy. He died unhappy .. Disappointed .. And unfulfilled.
R.G. LeTourneau: the developer of large, heavy-duty earth moving equipment. He had no ‘advance’ education, but in his field he was brilliant. He became outstandingly successful.. His success continues to bless many in Texas and other Southern states. Above all. He was a devout Christian, a member of the CHRISTIAN AND MISSIANCE ALLIANCE. It is said, in his early days he gave 10% of his income to the Lord’s work. In later years he gave 90% of his income to charity and the Lord’s work.
There were other companies making such equipment, but none like LeTourneau. In his later years, he made plans to turn the company to his oldest son, who was well qualified to run the company. That son was killed in a plane crash. Mr. LeTourneau was devastated. In his era of ‘devastation’ he made a choice .. He chose to sell the company and get out of the earth moving business. He sold to a company called CATERPILLAR. He sold with the stipulation that he could not re-enter the business within five years. He waited .. By the end of the five year period he was ready and eager to re-enter the business. He spent millions trying to regain his position in the business .. To no avail .. Caterpillar now had the business. Few people today know anything about a man and a company called LeTourneau. In his time of “emotional devastation” he made a choice, a regrettable choice.
We are all human. Most of us have experienced times of “emotional devastation”. those times pass. It is best not to make ‘life changing choices’ during that time.
We are all familiar with KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN and COLONEL SANDERS. He was not a successful restaurant man until he discovered ’pressure cooked chicken’ with eleven spices and herbs. He experienced a degree of success .. Enough success that a national syndicate offered to buy his operation. He was offered his choice of two million in cash or two million in company stock. He chose the cash.
Kentucky Fried Chicken is owned by YUM BRANDS, along with several other ‘fast food’ chains. Yum Brands is, reportedly, the largest fast food chain in the world. KFC is the #1 fast food in China.
According to a recent documentary, Colonel Sanders heirs receive nothing from the corporation .. Nothing from the Colonel success.
CHOICES ..TO CHOOSE WISELY.. “life is nothing less than living out the consequences of choices that were made at an earlier time”.