Why we should be more like David Zinn than Zach Morris

Last week, I remember talking with some friends about who turned out to be the most successful from our high school. To be honest, it was a bizarre conversation to have. We decided strangely enough, that someone we never would have guessed during high school has become the most "successful" out in the real world. For some reason, I kept quiet and chickened out on saying something pulling at my heart strings. I wanted to say what I remember most from high school is playing basketball with David Zinn while he talked to me about Jesus when I was completely lost in life, but instead I kept quiet. This moment was very pivotal in shaping who I would become down the road in life. But it would have been a little socially awkward to mention this super spiritual moment so I guess I chickened out and just let the conversation keep running so I wouldn't awkward everyone out.

Maybe I have been a little more introspective on what matters in life because of events like the recent news of Kobe Bryant's passing. It just seems bizarre that even icons like Kobe can be here one day and then gone the next. It seems no one is immune from the human condition, not even Kobe Bryant. Life is quite long but strangely enough it can be quite short as well. With that perspective, I think perhaps we should reframe our definitions of what is meant by a successful life, a definition that extends to more spiritual, eternal things.

To be honest, I couldn't go back to high school today. The competitiveness would just get to me. It felt like such a rat race climbing the ladders of popularity, grades, and success. I simply couldn't handle the anxiety given I know my identity is in Christ and none of that junk. But our roundtable conversation about who was the most successful person from high school kept me thinking. Is it really the goal of man to be the most "successful"? When we are young we are taught to chase huge dreams and climb the corporate ladder as high as we can, but as we age we realize these dream are quite hard and perhaps there is more to life than "being at the top." I think there is more to life than that. In fact, one of the wisest men I've ever met once advised me there is nothing at the top of the ladder. Perhaps right where we are is where the beauty is. I think the beauty of Jesus is that he allows anyone to be meaningful, not just successful, in His Kingdom. Anyone is invited to share about God's love for others. This is what was so cool about David Zinn. He found Christ before most of us did back in high school and people just loved him because he showed God's love to everyone. He has spent his life sharing the gospel with people like myself both domestically and abroad in places like China through missions. He is truly an example of a man who has put sharing the gospel first in his life.

When I look back at life, I will forever remember David Zinn. I will remember how he shared about God's son with me when I was completely lost in high school. Tonight I was stuck in one of those moments where you can't sleep and all you can do is reflect on life. While reflecting, I kept thinking I wanted to be exactly like David Zinn and I didn't want to try to be Zach Morris. For those who don't know Zach Morris was the quintessential king of cool in the hit show Saved by the Bell. But as I've gotten older, I've learned that Zach Morris type of fame will come and go. Fame, popularity, and success are so transient in the grand scheme of life with its ups and downs. They are so situationally dependent, here one day and gone the next. But I will never forget the exact spot I was in when David Zinn first introduced the gospel to me. If you could bottle the emotion of that moment it would sell for millions.

I write all this as someone who is in their mid 30s trying to reflect on what is important in life. I wonder why the goal of Americans hasn't changed to make more disciples of Jesus instead of chasing the American Dream? Why aren't there more David Zinns in the world giving their life to serve in places like China? Why are we trying to be Zach Morris, when David Zinn is what God has called us to be? Why does man fight for things that may or may not bring eternal fulfillment? Henry David Thoreau says that, "most men lead lives of quiet desperation." That quote stings of emptiness and pain. To say that most men have boring stories is a stab in the heart, but it's true. We so often go through life, sometimes for years, overlooking God and His purposes for us. And without that as the focus of our life, we simply live stories that don't live up to the eternal hype we should be experiencing. We may try to look like Zach Morris, but really David Zinn is what our heart and soul wants to be. If we are honest, I think God actually invites us to a life of meaning and fulfilment that we can't find in sizing up our successes or SAT scores with our neighbor. If this way of life, the Christian way of life, is truly how we find life, why are we not taught to strive for this? Why are we sold on an American dream of success that may not fulfill at the end like we thought it would at the beginning of our chase? Perhaps it is the Enemy blinding us from truth and disguising a lie to look good. Perhaps it is man's attempt to find life in things other than God? Whatever it is, let us learn from David Zinn, a saint that I know God will say, "well done my good and faithful servant" when he is at the end of this time on earth. Let us store up treasures in Heaven, not on earth.