Recently a man approached Dezra’s grandfather about doing a video biography of his life. You see Chuck is kind of a living legend, if you will. He was apart of a small group of men that started a ministry of laymen (that means non-clergy) called Light For The Lost. He would flatly reject the notion of being a hero, but the truth is he is literally responsible for taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. The primary thrust of Light For The Lost is to purchase evangelistic literature and see it distributed worldwide. Chuck has been a part of raising multiple millions of dollars for this purpose over his life time.
In the video biography, Chuck recounted the early days of starting Light For The Lost. He told a story about meeting with a particular man he was trying to get to support LFTL. This was his first real contact in starting the group in his assigned region of the country. Without this man’s support Chuck felt it would be impossible to move forward with the ministry. The man told Chuck he wasn’t interested and didn’t want to hear about it. After that meeting, Chuck reasoned the man must have misunderstood him so he scheduled another meeting. Again the man told him he wasn’t interested. Chuck recounts that upon his second abrupt rejection he told himself, “I’m not the kind of person that quits.”
Chuck determined there was only one way to get this man to listen to him. The man was in the habit of arriving at work everyday promptly at 9 am, so Chuck would get there earlier than that and greet the man at the door. For days the man walked in the building, and Chuck would greet him then leave. On the seventh day, the man acknowledged that Chuck wasn’t going to give up so he must really believe in this new program. He invited Chuck into his office and let Chuck present LFTL to him. That man became one of Chuck’s best friends and more to the point, his chief supporter. Through his relational connections Chuck was able to take LFTL all over his region and do more than he ever dreamed. I believe this is the direct result of a man determining, “I’m not the kind of person who quits.”
I am convinced that as long as quitting is an option continuing will always be an issue. I’m not sure one can even say they have started until stopping is not an option. I guess that is why Jesus made a radical statement like, “If you’re not willing to give up everything you’re not really following me.” You see as long as there is a Plan B, Plan A will be in jeopardy. Not only do you know it, but everyone around you does to. When we decide quitting isn’t an option, finishing won’t be in question and people to journey with won’t be a problem.
