A group of friends went deer hunting. They separated into pairs. That night, one hunter returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck.
The other hunters asked, "Where's Harry?"
The lone hunter replied, "Harry fainted a couple miles up the trail."
The others couldn't believe it. "You mean you left him lying there and carried the deer back instead?"
The man answered, "It was a tough call, but I figured no one was going to steal Harry."
To this deer hunter it was simply a matter of priorities. And one of the secrets of success in life is to have your priorities in order.
In the late 1980s and early "˜90s, Chris Spielman was an awesome linebacker for the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills. Football was his passion, or so everyone thought. But in 1994, Chris Spielman gladly gave up football when his wife, Stefanie, was diagnosed with cancer.
He moved into his wife's hospital room and waited on her hand and foot. He only ate what she ate, only slept when she slept. When Stefanie lost her hair to chemotherapy, Chris shaved his head. He became the primary caretaker for their two children. Today, Stefanie is in remission and feeling good. And Chris has no regrets about giving up his career. As he says, "This is my family. This is my responsibility. This is my duty." (1)
Jesus and his disciples had just arrived in Capernaum. When they were settled in, Jesus asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?"
Suddenly it got very quiet. Why? Because the disciples were embarrassed. They had been arguing about who was the greatest. They were arguing over who was number one.
How is it that this argument seemed perfectly reasonable and important to the disciples until they had to lay it before Jesus? Suddenly, they saw it for what it really was: sinful, petty pride. No wonder they were embarrassed. No wonder they didn't want to tell Jesus what they were arguing about.
Chris Spielman probably thought at one time in his life that winning at football was the most important thing in life. How his priorities changed when someone he loved had her life threatened by disease.
Jesus called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all." And taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me." (NASB)
IF YOU ARE LIKE MANY PEOPLE IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY, YOU HAVE A STRONG DESIRE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR CHOSEN CAREER.
Never before have we had a generation to whom success is so important. We want to be at the top of the pyramid. We want to be number one. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I was reading recently about a young woman from New York who dreamed of being a movie star. She moved to Hollywood, studied acting, and pounded the pavement looking for jobs.
Our young actress claimed to be fresh off the farms of Montana--maybe the "farm girl-turned-starlet" angle would work for her. She was pretty, but not glamorous. She couldn't sing or dance all that well. She was energetic and funny, but female comediennes were not very popular at that time. One of her colleagues even advised her, "Go back to Montana and just be a happy cowgirl." But that's not where this young woman's happiness lay. Eventually, she made a name for herself as the funniest woman in television, and she went on to become one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. Her name? Lucille Ball. (2)
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be successful. Personal ambition is a gift God has bestowed upon us to cause us to be our best.
When I have surgery I want a doctor who is dedicated to being the very best doctor in town. When I go to a restaurant, I would like to think the chef is dedicated to being the very best chef in town. When I have my car repaired I would like to think I have the best mechanic in town working on my car.
There is nothing wrong with striving to be number one. As someone has said, "Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."
Striving to be number one can be healthy as long as we are able to put it into perspective. Winning isn't everything. Neither is it the only thing. In fact, being number one can cost you your soul.
Notice that Jesus didn't scold the disciples for wanting to be number one. What he tried to do was help them put it into perspective.
Some anonymous writer put it like this: "Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them: work, family, health, friends, and [faith], and you're keeping all of them in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls--family, health, friends, and [faith] are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same."
That is powerful imagery. Work is a rubber ball--but the other important things in life--family, health, friends, and [faith] are made of glass. If you neglect these other life's concerns in your quest to be number one, your life will not really be a success.
A few years ago Tom Bloch resigned as chief executive officer of H&R Block, the $1.7 billion tax-preparation and financial-services firm. Tom left behind his prestigious job to become a teacher at St. Francis Xavier middle school in Kansas City, Mo. His annual salary suddenly dropped to less than $15,000 a year, about three percent of his old salary. But Bloch knew his hectic schedule as CEO had been interfering with his top priority: his wife and their two sons.
"The hardest part was telling my father," Bloch says, referring to H&R Block chairman Henry Bloch, who co-founded the company in 1955. "But I didn't want to look back on my life," Bloch continues, "and say, "˜Gee, you had an opportunity to play a bigger role in your children's lives and didn't take it.'" (3) Tom Bloch knew which ball was made of rubber and which one was made of glass.
There was an article in READER'S DIGEST years ago about a young woman named Elsa. Elsa no longer remembers what the argument was about, but it began before breakfast one morning and continued as her husband Steve started off to work. "How can you just go off like that?" cried Elsa. "We haven't settled a thing!"
Then Steve did what few men as ambitious and driven as Steve is would do: he turned around and went to the phone and canceled all his appointments for that day. Steve was saying to Elsa, in effect, that their relationship meant more than business meetings. You can imagine how much it meant to Elsa to discover that she had married a man who would sacrifice work to improve their relationship. (4)
This sermon is going to make me popular with a lot of wives, but it is not just men who are driven by their careers. There is tremendous pressure on us all to succeed, and if we don't watch it, we can lose some things that are precious to us along the way.
James W. Moore tells of a church member who came to his study one day. The pastor could see that the man looked deeply troubled. The man said "Pastor, I need to talk. I feel so empty--so dried up inside--I'm scared." His voice began to quiver just a bit. He said "Pastor, I have just come from the doctor's office--and he told me that I have only six months at best to live. After I left his office I realized that I have no spiritual resources, no inner strength to cope with this. There is nothing to fall back on, to lean against. Many people would be surprised to hear me say that, for I have made lots of money, and people think I am a success not only at making money but at being a strong powerful person."
He then fell quiet, and the pastor waited in silence for him to go on. Finally the man said, "You know I'm poor in the things that count the most. I see it now. I've put my faith in the wrong things, and the truth is I am destitute, spiritually destitute. I could pick up the phone and call any bank in Houston and borrow any amount of money to do whatever I wanted to. Just on my name, Reverend, just on my name! Do you understand? I could borrow it on my name only." The man then leaned forward and put his head in his hands, and said softly through tears, "I guess there are some things you can't buy or borrow." (5)
There are some things you can't buy or borrow. Family, friends, health and faith. Those glass balls. IT'S INTERESTING THAT JESUS PUT A CHILD IN THEIR MIDST AS A MEANS OF HELPING HIS DISCIPLES TO ADJUST THEIR PRIORITIES.
Children often remind us that our priorities are out of whack. And love for our children can help us motivate ourselves to get our lives back in their proper focus.
There was an article in PEOPLE magazine recently about a man who regained his focus thanks to his love for his daughter. Anyone who's ever tried to lose weight knows what a frustrating, impossible battle it can be. Researchers report that of the few people who ever do lose substantial amounts of weight, most regain the weight within a few years. It seems so hard to find the motivation to lose the weight and keep it off. But Randy Leamer didn't have a problem with motivation. He knew if he didn't lose weight, his little daughter might died.
At only eighteen-months old, Meagan Leamer was diagnosed with severe kidney disease. No matter what treatment the doctors tried with her, the toddler just kept getting worse. By the age of five, Meagan desperately needed a kidney transplant. Meagan's parents, Randy and Genie Leamer, were more than willing to donate an organ to their daughter, and both were found to be good matches. But Genie's family had a long history of kidney problems and high blood pressure, so an organ donation would be risky on her part.
That left Meagan's dad, Randy, as the only possible donor. There was only one problem: Randy Leamer weighed over 300 pounds. Doctors were afraid that in Randy's condition he wouldn't survive the surgery to harvest his kidney. So Randy determined to lose over 100 lbs. in order to prepare for his daughter's surgery. He began exercising and eating a low-fat diet. Friends at work cheered him on, and even brought in their old clothes for Randy when his clothes became too big for him.
Within eight months, Randy Leamer had dropped to 194 lbs. Meagan's kidney surgery was performed on December 12, 1997. Both Randy and Meagan have recovered fully from the surgery. (6) Because of his love for his daughter, Randy Leamer took a needed action that may in the long run give him a longer life.
It is amazing how love for our children can help us regain our focus in life. All of us are under pressure to succeed in life. All of us want to be the best we can be. We are all juggling balls in the air. There is nothing wrong with that--as long as we remember which of the balls is rubber and which are glass.
"Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls--family, health, friends, and [faith] are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same."
1. "Losing Is Not An Option" by Elizabeth Gilbert, READER'S DIGEST, March 2000 p. 101-106. Originally published in GQ.
2. Earl Wilson, THE SHOW BUSINESS NOBODY KNOWS (Chicago: Cowles Book Company, Inc., 1971), p. 81.
3. PEOPLE WEEKLY.
4. August, 1982.
5. From a sermon by Rev. Eric S. Ritz.
6. "Making the Weight" by Christina Cheaklos and Ellen Mazo. PEOPLE, February 23, 1998 pp. 61-64.