Susan Beckett | Dwelling Place City Church
On May 23rd, Time magazine released the results of its world’s 100 most influential people. This list was first published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, journalists and politicians. It’s now published as an annual event. Some names from past & present years include Prince Harry, Dr. Fauci, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vladimir Putin, LeBron James, and Jimmy Fallon – just to name a very few.
I find it interesting that the list is pretty much populated with people who are the hardest to ignore in our society – politicians, actors, and athletes. It seems it can be easy to get caught up in giving ear to these people simply because of their fame!
The power of one – it can’t be denied! One person really can make a difference – either to advance good or promote evil. Think Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, or Kim Jong-un, and contrast them with people like Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther.
Solzhenitsyn once said: “The battle line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.” Our choice! But look through the ages and you will soon discover that when people really connect with the teachings of Jesus, they are changed and empowered and can’t help but enter the arena of ‘changed lives!’
On the eve of World War II, a young British stockbroker, Nicholas Winton, risked his life to successfully rescue 669 predominantly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust. Just hours before Hitler and the Nazis took Czechoslovakia, the first train carrying the Winton children left the country. Over the following five months, Winton and his team successfully organized seven other evacuation trains.
It was an incredible operation of both rescue and relocation, but Winton never spoke of this again until 50 years later when his wife found his scrapbook in their attic containing the names, pictures, and documents of the Holocaust victims he had saved.
He was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and dubbed the “British Schindler” by the press. In 1988, Winton appeared on a UK television program called “That’s Life!” He was invited as a member of the audience, and had no idea that all those seated around him were people who were alive only because of his brave act back in 1939.
The program reunited him with just a few of the many hundreds he had rescued. A short video of this amazing reunion can be viewed on Youtube, but be ready to shed a few tears as you watch this remarkable and very surprised individual receive a well-deserved standing ovation from those seated all around him! The power of one!
Another notable ‘one’ is Dr. John Geddie – a Presbyterian missionary that I’m just about positive you’ve never heard of. In 1848, he departed for Aneityum – an island in the South Pacific – where he worked passionately for 24 years. There’s a tablet erected to his memory on the island with these words: “When he landed in 1848, there were no Christians. When he left, in 1872, there were no heathen.” Again, the power of one!
As Christ-followers, we are all called to be the ‘one!’ It’s the Isaiah 6:8 principle: “Here I am Lord. Send me.” But more often than not, we stand down from our unique God opportunities – “Here I am Lord. But send him!” The trouble with that, of course, is that only you have your particular neighbors, friends, and family, etc. Each of us needs to have a send-me vision, a send-me attitude, and definitely a send-me heart!
Jesus, of course, was the ultimate ‘power of one’ world-changer! Someone once penned this of Him, “All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerful as has that One solitary life.”
Of course, this is a hard resume to follow, but still, we can do something! I really love E. Bucchianeri’s thoughts on this: “Make your lives a masterpiece, you only get one canvas.” So, take a walk on the wild side and be a ‘one!’
Bob and Susan Beckett pastor the Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at DPCitychurch.org
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