A few years ago I took part in an evangelistic mission’s week in Armenia. Afterwards
Question:
I will consider myself succeeded in case I do
a cultural revolution immortalizing my name. I think it will be possible if I
could find and present a new perfect figure in a way that all could understand.
Answer:
We
all want to succeed. The question is how we define success. It seems that to
you success is to do something for your nation and the world that will be
remembered by the future generations. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming to
make the world a better place. There have been some great men who have brought
about significant political and cultural changes in their countries. People
like Apostle Paul, Copernicus, Martin Luther in Germany ,
Isaac Newton, Tyndale and Wilberforce in England ,
George Washington and Martin Luther King in America
Yet,
we need to be careful with revolutions. Revolution is a radical change in society that is usually made suddenly and often
accompanied by violence. The Russian revolution in 1917 led to the
establishment of a totalitarian communist rule which caused the death of 20
million Russians through mass executions, famine, concentration camps, extermination,
deportation, golodomor, etc.
The
term ‘cultural revolution’ is associated with a social-political experiment
that took place in China from 1966-1969, which led to a mass purge of all
‘liberals’ within the Communist Party of China and to persecution, public
humiliation, torture and seizure of property of millions others. It was set
into motion by Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist Party who hoped to get rid
of all his rivals and establish a non-class society. During his rule, through
starvation or repressions died 78 mln. people…
Let
us not forget either that the first genocide of the 20th century was
the crime of the Young Turk revolution in which 1.5 or more Ottoman Armenians
died. Hitler also came in power with the promise to change Germany
All
these men wanted to change society and history, and they did. For sure today we
remember their names. But I guess you don’t want to be remembered like that.
What was the problem? Why did their rules lead to such horrible consequences?
They
all had in common the desire to become famous, to make their name immortalized.
And that was actually their mistake. Their driving force was not the desire to
serve others but to use others as a means of making themselves gods. They
didn’t offer humbly their service to humanity but wanted their pride to be
gratified by being served. Pride is the most serious but also the most subtle
sin. It often is not even recognized as existing.
In
contrast, Apostle Paul, Copernicus, Martin Luther, Isaac Newton, Tyndale,
Wilberforce and the like were driven by their faith in God and desire to serve
God and humanity. They didn’t want to ‘immortalize themselves’ but rather to
make God’s name famous. They changed the world not through taking the lives of
others but actually through sacrificing (sometimes physically) themselves.
The
greatest ‘revolutionary’ in human history is Jesus Christ. He came to serve,
not to be served (Gospel of Matthew, ch. 20, v 28). His
‘recipe for success’ in life consists of two simple principles (the greatest
commandments) in the Gospel of Matthew, ch. 22, vs 37-40: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
You cannot love God unless you know Him. You cannot
know Him unless you’ve read his love letter to you, the Bible. This is where
you can start. When I did this I was captivated by the attraction of his
personality.
I realized that I am here for a purpose – to live in a
way that gives glory to my Maker. And I try to do it through loving those
around me – my family, my colleagues, and the people I meet every day. I don’t
know whether the future generations will remember my name and that doesn’t
concern me very much.
Jesus has promised to give salvation and eternal life
to anyone who believes in Him and that’s much more. “For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life” (Gospel of John, ch. 3, v. 16).
Jesus not only lived a perfect life, but he died and
rose again to pay the price for all our crimes and failures. His resurrection,
witnessed by more than 500 people, the Bible and famous historians such as
Tacitus and Josephus is the guarantee that his teaching is trustworthy. He not
only gives eternal life but also promises to give you satisfaction and make
your life complete here, on earth.
So,
it is not necessary for you to ‘find and present a new perfect figure’ to
humanity, neither to make your name immortal. The Bible says that all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Nobody’s perfect. All you need to
do is to put your trust in Jesus. And then he will help you use your potential
for His glory.
Sources:
Wikipedia, Enver
Pasha, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Pasha#War_Crimes_committed_by_Enver_Pasha
The 50 Most
Influential Christians of All Time, http://brainz.org/50-most-influential-christians-all-time/
