No Way but Straight
A good friend left us last week. He was someone important to my life, one who loved me when I was unworthy of love, had faith in me when I had lost my own, and who walked the overcomer’s journey before me. He knew what I did not yet know: that God’s forgiveness and love are just a surrender away and that their power changes everything. When they touch you, there is no way but straight.
Steve was a big man, full of energy and passion. When he was living in darkness those energies made him a force, one you did not want to cross. He grew up in East L. A., lived the gang life, and did bad stuff. Really bad stuff. He was everything you might imagine. I cannot remember how many times he was stabbed and shot in gang fights, but it was a lot. Some on the outside, some on the inside. Prison is a hard place to be. His name is still known in the projects of East L.A., spoken with respect by those who were part of his past and with reverence by those who know of his redemption and work to show others the Light.
When I first met Steve, I did not know what to think of him, not that I had ever been around anyone remotely like him. I would sit in my seat at church and observe quietly as others worshipped in ways you expect to see, singing, praying, and praising. Then there was Steve, running to the edge of the stage to pound it with all his might as he yelled out his love for God and exclaimed His greatness. I wondered who this man was and what was wrong with him. I had been in church nearly all my life and had never seen anything like it. But then, I had never known anyone who had lived a life like his, seen and done the things he had, and then been rescued from the depths. I had never known anyone who woke up inside a body bag at the morgue and yelled until the attendants heard and opened it for him.
That event is a perfect metaphor for his life. Dead in the world, alive in the Spirit and brought back to earthly life to live and serve humbly, the love of God the Father and his Lord Jesus his new animating force. All the passion and energy he carried was now directed towards Heaven as he ministered to his community with humility and love. Not an educated man, he became a scholar of the Hebrew Torah to plumb its depths and reveal its hidden secrets and mysteries and their keys to life. He taught others that yes, Jesus died to save us, but we must then honor His sacrifice with changed lives of truth, peace, love, and righteousness. With his passion for the Lord’s love and a new purpose, his latter impact overshadowed his former. Once a gangster in the truest sense of the word, he became a beacon of the Light of the World, shining God’s great love and mercy into dark places. When he spoke, people listened because they knew the darkness he chose to leave behind and wanted to know how that could possibly happen and if it could happen for them.
I first met Steve in 2012 and he soon began to invest himself in my life by being a friend, speaking truth, encouraging, caring. He saw beneath my facade to what others did not, and in him I saw what was possible. I realized that God’s mercy and love were not out of reach despite my own darkness. All I had to surrender was everything. It took two years, and it was never easy, but the day came when I finally broke and gave it all to the Lord. I learned truth in that, my own body bag opening to fresh air moment, as the Light of Life rushed in. God did not need Steve in my life to do that, but he was there and willing to be used. I am forever grateful for this man who showed me what true love and humility look like.
Steve was a unique man. Bigger than life in every way yet humble and loving. He lived to spread the Good News. He taught me how to worship again and made my life richer. His body carried many tattoos, their hard words speaking of his former life, but the Ten Commandments tattooed on his back were there because, as he said, “Jesus turned this stone into flesh, and He always had my back.”
His story, as unique and powerful as it is, is really the story of every overcomer, the ones of us who decide that life does not have to be the way it is and are willing to surrender and do the work required to change, leaving darkness behind to walk in mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness. In that sense, his story is my story, and it can be yours as well. Few can say they have known someone like Steve, such a giant of a man, of faith, and of God’s love. Maybe not, but we each have a path set before us and a choice to make. He chose to leave the darkness behind and walk with the Lord who redeems and restores life. I am better because he did, and proud to call him Brother.
Shalom