He was a Friend of Mine
Sometimes, I miss Frank. He’s not been absent long, but he was a good friend of mine. I was his pastor for twelve years. He was a pastor’s friend, and that’s a fact. Not that we always agreed on things. We had many spirited disagreements. More than once we took the anger management approach and just walked away. Honestly, I never knew anyone that always got along with Frank. What I am saying truthfully of him I should probably say of myself, but I like friends who challenge me. Frank is in heaven today, of that I’m sure. I say this as one who walked by his side, received his aid and was with him until the end.
Frank dodged a bullet in that he was saved at the age of forty-nine. Nearly everyone who gets saved does so before age twenty-one- the vast majority of those before twelve. He was a self-taught machinist and Korean War vet, who rose to become a vice-president in his company designing and developing complicated parts and machinery used in aeronautics and the military. One of his responsibilities was to entertain clients for his firm. At his conversion, he had ten gallons of alcohol in his closet for said purpose. He said he felt like Otis (of Mayberry) as he stood with his pastor at his kitchen sink and emptied the bottles signifying his new life.
See, Frank didn’t just say he believed. That’s why you could tell it was real. He wasn’t always right, but he was always real. In a way, it was problematic. He held dear a minority view of the end-times (at least if you watch television), and he couldn’t stop talking about it. I suppose there was a part of him that liked the confrontation, but he remains the best self-taught theologian I’ve ever known. Speaking as one who traded blows with him, there was a counterbalance. Many times, I have seen him weep over his own failures or fears that he had somehow harmed another person. I said he was real. Kinda makes me feel bad for hollering at him.
Faith does not require that you be faultless, but it does require that you be functioning. Life-change is seen in deeds, not words. Anybody can say the right things. And we never reach the perfected state in this life. It is normal for Christ-followers to occasionally say and do the wrong things. If we are genuine, these foibles induce guilt, cause grief and lead to grace. We get up and try again. Frank didn’t stay down for long, and he never held a grudge. He could genuinely put things behind him and go on. That is an indicator of real faith, as well. It is sometimes hard for sincere believers to understand their forgiveness, but it is true.
I’m glad folks don’t know everything about me. Most who know me at all understand that I have many faults. For the sake of friendship, they let a lot of them slide. There is great call for believers to admonish each other, but I think it’s also biblical to let some things go. Frank didn’t get everything right, but friends ought not keep score. It’s hard to actually play the game and referee at the same time. Frank was an active believer, and it gladdened my heart. Peter said, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
The mark of a believer being love, there are many ways to show real faith. They are all active. When James asked if do-nothing faith could save, he was asking if that “faith” is really saving faith or a cheap imitation. As Peter said love covers sins, James said turning one from error covers sins. Love and faith walk hand-in-hand, are enterprising and always trying to spring the trap of sin releasing one in bondage. Frank may have had a guilty conscience. By that, I mean the kind of conscience that compels a person toward a goal. Paul carried his past misdeeds in remembrance as they indebted him to Christ and others.
After moving to the area, the first person I shared the gospel with was Frank’s daughter-in-law. He had tried and wanted me to take a shot at her. The conversation went so well that I was thinking she would be the first convert I personally led to Christ in my new locale. In the end, she politely declined to make a commitment. Frank’s greatest burden was for the salvation of his family and beyond. Over the years, we shared the gospel with her many times with the same result. It broke Frank’s heart that many in his own family were outside the grasp of grace even as we traipsed all over the county (and others besides) with the gospel message.
One day, Frank dropped by the office in serious thought. He believed his great-grandson had reached an age of accountability to God and understanding of the gospel. We both knew Mason enjoyed church. Frank said, “He’s really smart.” Now, I knew it was great-grandpa talking, but I said, “Bring him by.” What a joy it was to share Jesus as the young man opened his heart to Christ and accepted Him as Savior. The baptismal service was a time of rejoicing for us at the grace of God and child-like faith. The sins of a child pale in number to those of an adult, but they require the blood of Christ, and the faith expressed is pure.
Now, Frank and I did a lot of Christian service and benevolent work together, but we keyed on evangelism. We shared the passion for souls. Sitting across from me one morning, Frank asked, “What do you think about Madison? She’s interested in spiritual things, but I don’t know if she’s ready.” I said, “Bring her by and let me talk to her.” Within the week, I shared the gospel with her in my office and she received Christ as her great-grandad prayed and thanked God. What a joy it is to be able to use the keys of the kingdom to open the door of salvation for a child! The whole family attended when she identified with Christ in baptism.
Once, Frank and I wound our way into a steep ravine and saw an old friend of his saved at the invitation of Christ and after twenty-seven years of prayer. The daughter-in-law later wept in my office and opened her heart to the Healer and was set free. These joyfully followed Christ in baptism just as the others. It was my great privilege to be able to pray with each at the moment they received Christ, but, if you ask me, the real soulwinner in each case was Frank. He had a faith that was living, active and real. It was the kind of faith that saves. His was not a works religion but a religion that worked. I saw in Frank a functioning faith.
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