mostly unnoticed
All over the news today is talk of the actor Heath Ledger’s untimely death at the age of 28 from an accidental drug overdose. Apparently he starred in the movie ‘Broke Back Mountain’ where he played a homosexual cowboy, but I remember him as Benjamin Martin’s son Gabriel, in the movie ‘The Patriot’. In looking at the real life Heath Ledger vs the character of Gabriel Martin, I am struck at how many in America value people.
Compare this with the news coverage of the death of 30 year old Jonathan Dozier. Jonathan was a Staff Sgt. in the 1st Armored Division when he and 5 other young men were killed by a makeshift bomb during combat operations in Sinsil, Iraq on January 6th of this year. There has been no mention of the life lived or lost by Jonathan.
The news is full of Heath Ledgers, (Paris Hilton, Brittany Spears, etc). Young people who have squandered both tremendous opportunity and talent. The money they have made could have been used to help people. Their fame has given them the stage to encourage those watching to excel in their own lives. Instead we are fed a steady diet of excessive drinking, drug use, illegitimate children, and boorish behavior. And when they end up in jail or dead, they are treated as victims.
The Jonathan Doziers of the world go mostly unnoticed. They work hard at improving themselves. You will find them in the trenches where things get done, and the accolades are often few. They are people of action and substance.
In 2 Corinthians 10-12, Paul defends his ministry against false teachers even to the point of having to boast about his suffering. It is difficult to believe that people did not know what he had been through, but just as today, people were drawn to something flashy. Slick packaging, the look of success, or great press coverage are more important than substance.
Our example, Jesus Christ, was born of humble beginnings, surviving the deadly manhunt of a worried King Herod, not to become the victim of a hateful people, but to become a willing sacrifice for all mankind.
It was wonderful to witness Chuck Coles being commended in public this Sunday past. I have much admiration for Chuck and Robert Collins because of where they have come from. It is easy to end up like Heath Ledger but takes hard work and effort to be a Jonathan Dozier. I can see Chuck and Robert as old men looking like the apostle Paul. Battle scarred and tested, ready to battle anyone for the sake of Christ. They realize there is no reward apart from having Christ in their lives, only a trail of messed up lives and missed opportunities.
I pray we all keep our focus so like Paul we can say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Jim Oliver