"GUNG HO"?

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth now down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?  Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”  (Luke 14:28-30)

My later father used the expression, “Gung Ho” whenever he was describing somebody who was ecstatically committed to something and enthusiastic about it.  I’m not sure where the expression comes from...maybe World War 2?  ...maybe before that?  I certainly know what “Gung Ho” means.  I’ve encountered many people in life who were Gung Ho about something.  The sad thing is, many START out Gung Ho about something but then lose their zeal and quit.

I remember a woman that I’ll call “Zelda”- it’s not her real name- who moved to Framingham from Maine somewhere around fourteen years ago.  If such a statistic is really possible, she got 200% involved in the Framingham community.  “Fifty-ish” she had the energy of a 27-year-old.  She was one of the leaders of the “downtown Framingham clean up” days of the late 1990s.  She ate, slept, drank, breathed the cause of beautification and development in downtown Framingham.  Somewhere around eight years ago she moved out-of-state.  At least a year before that, she had kind of lost her zeal for Framingham and seemed to have more on a “let someone else do it this time” attitude.  

My first year pastoring in Framingham a young African-American couple began attending our church.  They had just moved in from Providence, Rhode Island.  The wife was originally from Springfield, Missouri, and since I’d gone to Bible College there, we had a connection.  This couple that I’ll call the Jacksons (and honestly, since it’s been twenty-one years I really don’t remember their name) began attending church every time the door was open.  They were excited.  They told me I could count on them...that they’d be totally committed to the church and to me, and that God was going to do great and marvelous things in our church.  Exactly six weeks later, they left our church.  I never saw them again and I have no idea what became of them.  In twenty-one years here I’ve seldom seen a couple who were so “Gung Ho”, but I wish that could have lasted longer than six weeks.

One of the reason I tend to NOT go on diets is that I’ve seen too many people start diets all “Gung Ho” to stick to the diet and lose weight.  I’ve seen that last three or four days, and then the diet is over.  I’m honest enough to know that’s exactly what I’d do, myself, so I don’t even START a diet!

I know a guy named Bill who is now around 74-years-old.  As long as I’ve known him he’s said he will make a lot of money and move to Florida.  He was very “Gung Ho” for that back in the early 1980s.  He still lives in Massachusetts.  He DID have some years of great financial success, but today he is financially poorer than he’s ever been in his life.  I know I wrote that “As long as I’ve known him he’s said he will make a lot of money and move to Florida.” but that’s not totally correct...for at least the past year he has not mentioned Florida.  He WAS very “Gung Ho” but something happened...

As I think back over my life, there are scores of people who were “Gung Ho” about something or “Gung Ho” to accomplish something, but most of them lost interest and gave up.  

How does a person STAY “Gung Ho”?  
No joke, as I’m writing this, the song playing on the iTunes on my computer is Tom Petty singing “I Won’t Back Down”.  I LOVE THAT SONG!!  It’s one of my favorites.  Maybe that’s how you stay “Gung Ho”...at least part of it...you don’t back down!