On January 18, I had the privilege of being the chapel speaker at Grove City College. My daughter, a freshman, was in the audience, and the best part…my son, a senior, introduced me. It is hardly fair to be introduced by your son and then try to get up and speak.
Anyway…here is the challenge I gave the students.
I do a good bit of speaking, but I have to tell you, every time I get up to speak I am so aware of the need for crisp and clear communication—all you communication majors know that…and you also know how fast things can go south when you open your mouth… and show up on YouTube.
Here are some examples of what can happen. When actress Brooke Shields served as an anti-smoking spokesperson she once said:
Smoking kills, and if you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.
That is a true statement. Being dead puts a damper on life.
How about this one from Penn State coach Joe Paterno? At a press conference he said:
If I wake up one morning and decide another person can do a better job with this squad, I will tell the wife, “Let’s go to Italy.” Or Brooklyn. Either one of those countries is fine with me.
Even when you write it down, you can still screw things up. Here is a notice in a Warrenton, Virginia newspaper:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE HUNDREDS OF PARACHUTING ENTHUSIASTS WHO BOUGHT OUR “EASY SKY DIVING’ BOOK, PLEASE MAKE THE FOLLOWING CORRECTION: ON PAGE 8, LINE 7, THE WORDS “STATE ZIP CODE” SHOULD HAVE READ “PULL RIP CORD.”
So if you are ever in Virginia and see people falling from the sky screaming their zip code, you’ll know they didn’t read the notice.
William Borden was a young man who had a passion to make an impact for Jesus Christ. Borden was not satisfied with a second rate, half-hearted Christian existence. He wanted to make his one and only life count.
So, when God called him to ministry in China…he never hesitated. His friends thought he was absolutely crazy to waste his life overseas. You see, Borden was from a very wealthy family. He had always been sent to the finest schools. He was a graduate of Yale and Princeton Seminary. But Borden understood that whenever God calls you to do something, it is never a waste of time. So he headed for China.
Borden’s first stop was Egypt for some training. Unfortunately, he never left there. He contracted cerebral meningitis and died at the age of 25.
It has been written that as he lay dying, a friend came to visit. Borden was too weak to talk, so he took out a piece of paper and scratched out these six words as kind of an epitaph.
NO RESERVE. NO RETREAT. NO REGRETS.
Let’s use these words, also found in the in the back of Borden’s Bible, as our outline.
NO RESERVE.
A life of no reserve is lived full-out for Jesus Christ. There is no holding back or holding out. It is a life that does not hide behind a spiritual mask, speak Christianese, and pray before meals…just because all good Christians pray before meals.
A life of no reserve does not act one way with one set of friends, and one way with another. A life of no reserve does not fondle secret sins when no one else it watching. A life of no reserve is not about pursuing a career that sets you up financially; it is about selling out to God’s calling that sets you up for eternal impact.
When you live with no reserve, you live with a burning passion to follow hard after Jesus. When you follow Christ with no reserve you are simply responding to all he has done for you. Jesus lived with no reserve.
Ephesians 5:2
[Jesus] gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Galatians 1:4
[Jesus] gave himself for our sins to rescue us….
Titus 2:14
[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem….
1 Timothy 2:5-6
[Jesus] gave himself as a ransom for all men—
Philippians 2:5-8
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!
We have had one daughter who graduated from Grove City, our son Garrison will graduate this spring, and our daughter, Lara, is a freshman here. I am a raving fan of this college. But I also know that at Grove City, it is easy to simply go through the spiritual motions. Don’t let it happen.
As you begin this semester, immersed in the academic rigors of this school, involved in all the social interaction of fraternities, sororities, brother halls and sister halls; as some of you prepare for graduation and interview for jobs; and as some of you look forward to glorious Grove City ritual of being “Creek-ed” after you announce your engagement…my challenge to you is to make certain Jesus Christ is your first love and your top priority, and you follow him with no reserve. Give yourself to him just as he gave himself for you.
NO RETREAT
In the Navy, when a captain was heading into a battle where retreat or surrender was not to be contemplated, he would order the “colors to be nailed to the mast.” Having the flag nailed up high, there would be no possibility of lowering it in the heat of the battle in order to raise the flag of surrender. With retreat not an option, crew members were motivated to fix their minds on how to best win the battle.
As you begin a new semester, I challenge you to nail your spiritual colors to the mast. Don’t give in. Don’t give up. Don’t retreat to secret sins. Don’t retreat to a life of spiritual complacency. Don’t retreat from reading God’s Word daily and spending quality time in prayer. And, by the way – prayers like, “O God! Please help me pass this test!” while certainly necessary…do not provide the level of communication that God desires.
When you live a life of no retreat, you are following the example of Jesus.
1 Peter 2:21-24
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
NO REGRETS
Every one of us has done some things in the past we are not proud of. And each one of us has done some things that we cannot go back and restore, or fix, or make right. But today…right now…commit to living this one and only life God’s way. Don’t put it off until after you graduate. The decisions you make today…will determine if you live with regrets tomorrow. In one of William Borden’s journals these words were found: “Say “no” to self and “yes” to Jesus every time.”
The writer to the Hebrews gives us this challenge that will enable us to live a life with no regrets.
Hebrews 12:2-3
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Men and women…my challenge for you is very simple. This semester…live a life of No Reserve. No Retreat. No Regrets.
