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What will people say about you?
by Bryan Kemper
I have not been able to get the sermon from
church out of my mind all week, which is
really a good thing. My pastor preached on
Philippians 1:21: “For me, to live is
Christ, and to die is gain.” I really
can’t get that verse out of my mind, it is
so profound.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge
Green Bay Packers fan; you will find me in
my Brett Favre jersey whenever the Packers
are playing. Such was the case last night
as I sat down for a great Monday Night
Football match up between the Packers and
the Rams. This was not just any ordinary
Monday night game; this was Brett’s 200th
consecutive start, which is a major feat.
Throughout the game there was a lot of talk
about what Brett has accomplished and what
kind of a guy he is. They talked a lot
about how he is dealing with his wife’s
cancer, how he spends time with Make a Wish
Foundation kids and just what an all around
great guy he is. He is married to his high
school sweetheart, he is an amazing father
and husband and he is one of the greatest
football players of all time. They always
talk about how amazing his football feats
are, how no one can pass like Brett, no one
loves football like Brett or how he simply
lives for football.
Now, I love Brett Favre and from what I have
heard, he is a Christian, but that is not
what I heard about last night. From what
the announcers were saying, you would think
for Brett, to live is football. I am not
saying that is the truth in his case, but
that is what he is probably going to be
remembered for. That is so unfortunate.
I really sat thinking about my kids, and the
people I work with and all the people that
follow Stand True and the work we do. I
thought about some of the cool things I have
accomplished in my life and things that
people know me for. I asked myself, what do
I live for? Do I live for Stand True? Do I
live for traveling around the country giving
speeches and doing pro-life work? Or do I
live for Christ? If there were TV
announcers talking about
my life,
what would they say?
I began to look at my work with Stand True
and how important it is that we put Christ
first in what we are doing. I don’t want it
to ever be said that “for Bryan to live is
pro-life.” That would be worthless to me. I
know I am called to do pro-life work, but
that work must be Christ-centered.
The pro-life message is not a message about
scientific facts and taking a stand against
procedures. The pro-life message is not
just “compatible” with Christ; it is
absolutely, 100 % dependant on the truth and
Gospel of Christ. Christ is the foundation
of everything, and if we try to build on any
other foundation we will fail. God is the
creator of every single life and He gives
every human person a soul, which is why
abortion is wrong. It is wrong because we
are destroying God’s precious life, His
heritage.
The pro-life message must contain the Gospel
of Christ, because that is where life truly
comes from. We can stop a woman from having
an abortion, but what about her soul? We
can save a baby’s life, but what about his
soul? What good are all our efforts, if
they are not grounded and centered on the
truth? In all honesty, we will never save a
single life, Christ will. We will never
save a single baby, God will. In all we do,
we are able to do it because of Christ.
“For me, to live is Christ”; wow, what a
powerful and demanding verse. Like I said,
I cannot get that verse out of my mind and I
hope I never do. If for some odd reason
there is ever a highlight reel on my life
like I saw for Brett, I hope it ends with
one thing, “for Bryan, to live was Christ.”
When people talk about Stand True, I pray
they say, “For Christ they stood.”
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