An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.
“Then Peter said, ‘Lo, we have left all and followed thee'” — Mark 10:28
How tragic it is that world thinking has centered around personal gains from each event involved. The smallest favor on the part of the smallest person is centered around, “What am I going to get out of it?”
You send a child to the store now and the first thing he wants to know is, “How much are you going to give me?” Everything one does for another is done largely under the guise of “What is in it for me?”
The thinking so common in earlier days centered around doing something for the benefit of one’s fellow man is long gone. “No money, no work” is the policy of most people with whom we come in contact today.
In the verses preceding this particular verse, Jesus talked about the plight of the richest men. He had talked with one who had become very boastful over having kept the Ten Commandments. He had lulled himself into pseudo-complacency over having done this. Many of us are doing the same thing.
NO PRICE TAG
If life has any real meaning for any of us, it is wrapped up in the fact that Christianity means doing the will of God without a price tag. The spirit of the Good Samaritan must become the spirit of each of us in all of its implications.
In this verse, Peter reveals that what he thought was the real mission was one that carried a reward on it here and now. Most of us think of what will be gained from doing this or that, not what great opportunities we have for rendering a service to our day and time. Peter implied that he had left all and followed Jesus and now was the time to pay off.
Jesus let him know that no man who left all and followed Him would be unrewarded. In fact, Jesus told him he would be rewarded one hundred times.
There must be something in each of our lives that makes us want to put our whole selves into something that will make this world better through our contributions. Our rewards for participation in many of the things of like will never be arrived at in items but rather in the intangible.
GREATEST REWARD
A good preacher, teacher or parent will be rewarded only in terms of having turned out a good product. The sincere teacher, preacher or parent will receive his greatest reward only to the extent that an exceptional product is turned out. No amount of money will bring to the real teacher, preacher or parent the joy that he knows when he looks up and sees something that he has helped mold rise to the greatest heights.
Peter thought now in terms of rewards but his greatest was postponed until after Jesus had left the scene. That was on the day of Pentecost when, through his preaching, 3,000 people were converted. This brought greater reward to Peter, the greatest joys he had ever known, joys that could never be evaluated in terms of dollars and cents but rather in terms of rapture unexcelled.
Our real joys are not now nor will they ever be in terms of dollars and cents but rather in a matter of having made a real contribution in the lives of those with whom we come in contact. Life is really not life until we render all of the good that we can.
Whatever might be our perspective in like, this takes on value only to the degree that we bring something of value into the lives of others. The real gains each of us makes is in terms of the good we do. This should be the deep-seated goal of every living being today. In proportion that we strive to do this, our lives and the lives of all of those with whom we come in contact will be far more rewarding.
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 