"In 1927, at the age of 32, Buckminster Fuller stood on the shores of Lake Michigan, prepared to throw himself into the freezing waters. His first child had died. He was bankrupt, discredited and jobless, and he had a wife and new-born daughter. "(www.bfi.org)
On the verge of suicide, it suddenly struck him that his life belonged, not to himself, but to God. At that moment, Mr. Fuller decided to embark on what he called “an experiment to discover what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity.”
Over the next fifty-four years, he proved, time and again, that his most controversial ideas were practical and workable.
During the course of his remarkable experiment he:
•authored 28 books
•received 47 honorary doctorates in the arts, science, engineering and the humanities
•received dozens of major architectural and design awards including, among many others,
the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects and the Gold Medal of the Royal
Institute of British Architects
•created work which found itself into the permanent collections of museums around the
world
•circled the globe 57 times, reaching millions through his public lectures and interviews.
Was Buckminster Fuller a Christian? Near the end of his life, when speaking to a group of young people about his amazing life, told them that in his lifetime he had earned between 25-30 million dollars, all of which came without plan. He said "You have to live in absolute faith in God - and I have". Sounds like a Christian to me!
So, my question is, why do so many people who claim to be Christians, live defeated, suffering lives filled with self-hate, covetousness and waste?
Because we forget who made us, and why we are here, and we have distorted the teachings of Jesus to fit our modern minds. We fuss and scream when we are denied our "rights". Listen to what Buckminster Fuller said about getting what we want, "The amazing thing is that when I don't get what I thought I wanted, it's because I didn't need it. I was on the wrong track. This way God can steer me."
Now, I am going to share with you a statement which is incredible in its complexity and yet so simple that even a small child can understand it. Yet, most completely miss it. I will preface this statement with the teaching of Jesus as recorded in the book of Matthew, chapter 10, verse 39; "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake, will find it."
Here's what Mr. Fuller said, "If I am going to carry on that way, and if I actually get on, if I really get on, I am going to have to, then, bound to have insights that would not develop if I were trying to earn a living. Can you understand that?"
Buckminster Fuller made such a huge impact on this world precisely because he decided never to make a living, but instead to make a life. He understood his place in this universe and more importantly understood his relationship to God. Having just received the Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States, Mr. Fuller said, "So when things like being given the medal of freedom and things like that occur, I simply do what I do every time I am going to lie down and take even a nap. I try to talk, as best I can, to God and I say, "Yours, dear God, is all the glory! All the glory! I am nothing."
Buckminster Fuller had a right perspective on his life, that even through great achievement, nothing or no one deserves glory but God. The power of this message is so clear, if we will only see it. Mr. Fuller also said, "That's why I am trying to let my audiences know that there is nothing that i've been able to do that they couldn't do, individually, equally well or better if they'd gone down the same circumstances; because I made this experiment, I am actually free from earning a living! And for fifty years I haven't thought about how to earn a living."
Are you bent on earning a living?
I know all the arguments, as I hear them almost daily; "Pastor, you don't know what it costs to feed my family" or "You don't understand what I have been through" or "Have you ever had to raise 3 children on your own?" And though I don't pretend to have the answers to any, let alone all of these questions, I know someone who does. He is the same person who helped Buckminster Fuller not drown himself in lake Michigan, and his name is Jesus. If you are focused on earning a living, you aren't focused on making a life - which is what Jesus wants. When Jesus told us to lose our lives, He really meant it. And we must never forget the second half of his promise which is that we will find a new life in Him. And when we find it, it won't be the same as it was - it will be entirely new - much better than we could have dreamed.
Just because we choose to live for Jesus instead of a paycheck, does that mean each of us will become a Buckminster Fuller? No. Some of us will be Sister Mary's who for 40 years has cared for retarded children in Pakistan. Some of us will be Marshall Rorie's who counsels men, women and children in need of God and direction in their lives. Some of us will be Charles Swindoll's who preach to thousands of people and some of us will be Ted Curby's who quietly and faithfully clean rooms, move tables and chairs and set up a church for people to visit on a sunday. A pastor friend of mine told me this morning about a young man in his first church who had suffered a brain trauma in a motorcycle accident and the only job he was capable of carrying out was to replace the chalk in the various classrooms of the church. Some of us will be like him. in fact, I hope that when I meet Jesus, I am considered 'like him" because this young man was faithful in all that he could do. Are you and I so faithful?
One of my professors, who is also my friend, told me that in his P.hD. program, only 31% of those who began the program completed it 3 years later. When I asked why, he said, "Jeff, they just quit. Earning a doctorate isn't really about being the smartest person in the world, it's about perseverance; about finishing what you start, and starting when others will not."
If you are living to earn a living, may I please urge you to stop. Seek God while He is near and don't put off another day, what He has intended you to do. it may be very hard at first, but as you look back, I promise you it will have been well worth it.
