PERSEVERANCE - A LESSON FROM SCOTT BROWN

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” (Hebrews 12:1)

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3:13-14)

Wow!

Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican...whether you’re a liberal or a conservative...whether you’re very happy that Scott Brown won or very sad that Martha Coakley lost, Scott Brown has taught us ALL a lesson in perseverance!

It’s not often that I’m very happy after an election. Most of the people I vote for LOSE. Many of the people and causes I’ve voted for have lost and have lost very badly. This time, I voted for the winner and I feel great.

How and why did Scott Brown and his supporters accomplish this win? There are many reasons, BUT a huge part of this is Scott’s optimism, hard work, commitment, and PERSEVERANCE. Frankly, Scott Brown did NOT act like an American of 2010- he acted more like an American of 1910! We modern Americans expect everything to be very easy. In my humble opinion, that goes DOUBLE for most of today’s born-again Christians. One of my friends says, “everybody expects everything handed to them on a silver platter”. I’ve found that’s correct! One hundred years ago, all four of my grandparents were recent immigrants to America. For three out of four of them, English was not their first language. With the exception of my grandfather Pierre Baril, they did not go to high school. There was a lot of sacrifice and there were a lot of disappointments so their children and grandchildren could have far better lives than they had. What are 2010’s Americans like? Well, like the kid that practically had a meltdown at the Boston American Idol auditions because he had to WAIT so long to audition (3 hours). We won’t wait. We won’t sacrifice.

The great Protestant churches of America were built by the World War 2 generation. Dan Buentello, a Baptist pastor friend of mine who is originally from Michigan put his finger on the difference between American Christians of the 1960s and American Christians of today. Dan’s parents were immigrants from Mexico. His Dad worked in one of the auto plants in Michigan. Dan’s parents were at their Baptist church for untold hours during the week. If the church needed a new roof, the men of the church put the new roof on during weekends. That was true for all sorts of repairs. Whatever was needed, that World War 2 generation was there with their blood, sweat, and tears. Dan says, “I go back there today. If the church needs roof or something done, they just hire someone. NOBODY my age or younger will do that kind of work.”

That’s true.

I find that if today’s Americans (and today’s evangelical Christians) face an uphill battle with a slim chance of success, THEY WON’T EVEN GET STARTED! That was NOT true of Scott Brown. When Scott Brown announced his candidacy in September to fill the seat that had been occupied by Ted Kennedy for over forty years (and by John F. Kennedy before that) NOBODY thought he had a chance of being elected! I was “on board” with Scott Brown right from September. I am kind of a “news junkie” and “political junkie” as some say. I very much wanted Scott to win, but realistically I knew his chances were very slim. The media focused on the four Democrat candidates. When Martha Coakley won the Democrat primary in early December, it was just assumed she would be the new Senator. At that time, she was leading Scott Brown in the polls, 58% to 27%. “No,” it was said, “This is the BLUEST of all states. This is the most LIBERAL of all states. NO REPUBLICAN CAN WIN.”

How did Scott Brown behave from the time he got into the race? LIKE HE WAS GOING TO WIN! He worked the campaign EVERY DAY! He drove that old truck all over the state. He talked to real people. He connected with real people. He had a big contagious smile! He had a likable and lovable quality that may not have been seen in a Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan, and he had the charisma of the late John F. Kennedy. But he PERSEVERED. He toughed it out. He WORKED. And his supporters, like the “little engine that could” did the same!

By early January, Martha Coakley was only 9 points ahead. The “Democrat machine” tried attack ads and threw everything they could at Scott Brown and his supporters. But Scott Brown’s forces only worked all the harder and believed all the more. The impossible happened. A “moderate-to-conservative” Republican won the “Ted Kennedy seat” in Massachusetts!

I’ve written on this blog that I tend to be a dreamer and a Don Quixote type. When you are that way, it gets frustrating when people tell you “it can’t be done”. You can feel so overwhelmed and get so discouraged...because you STUPIDLY believe such people!

Scott Brown is not perfect. He’s pro-choice. I’m pro-life. I see him as a “safe middle of the road Protestant”. Well, as you might guess, I’d prefer a Bible quoting Pentecostal! But I’ve been very INSPIRED by this man!

Now, this man did what he did with sheer determination, optimism, and hard work. I ask you evangelical Christians who say there can’t be a “revival” in New England, or that small struggling churches can’t grow in New England, or that Christian schools will never make it in New England: Don’t we have something Scott Brown didn’t have?! We have the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. If we’d persevere as hard as Scott Brown has persevered...in the face of the most negative odds; if we’d work and sacrifice as hard as he and his supporters have worked and sacrificed...and if we’d PRAY and FOCUS ON THE LORD the way the Pentecostals of 1910 prayed and focused on the Lord, well, WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE WOULD HAPPEN?!