Being an Example

To be up front with you this is more of a tribute than a blog post. I had the opportunity to be part of the celebration of life of my friend Scott yesterday. I knew him for the last 15 years of his life and I am a better man because of knowing him. Scott and I weren’t best friends or even close friends, we were brothers in our faith; which is deeper than many friendships, regardless of the time we spent together. What I will always have because of my time with Scott is wisdom that can only be gained by 2 guys being confused together, trusting God for the answer and then being obedient to follow though on where He leads you. 

The only way I can truly express what this guy meant to me and those he interacted with is the story about him almost getting fired months after we met. Scott had just started at a new church in our area and was tasked with connecting with the local residents around the church. So he wandered around the neighborhood and did something novel for a church leader and talked to the people he met around the church. After a while, he came up with an idea to help connect with the folks he was meeting in the neighborhood. So he sent out invitations and people came to the church. When they arrived, Scott had moved all of the pews in the church and rented a blow up bouncy house castle sat in there place. That night the people of the neighborhood sat in a blowup castle and learned about the kingdom of God; some for the first time. The thing I loved about Scott is how he was able to bring the Bible to life and he did it in spades with the bouncy castle. In doing so, he showed everyone who sat in that castle that he cared about them, cared about them enough to do something special just for them. After the successful event, the church board who called him to connect with the community now wanted to fire him for moving the pews. As I talked to Scott about the situation, he said something that will aways stick with me, “I am a recovering legalist, it’s way easier to love people then to condemn them”. 

That’s how Scott lived his life, he loved people, helping them know who God is and what He did for all of us in spite of ourselves. He was the pastor of a small little church but his son said it best, “Dad was a pastor to all that he encountered”. He was and will be an example for all of us on how to love people, serve God and meet them where they are at, even if it’s in a bouncy castle.

Geremy Olson

ND AIM Tournament Director, Outdoorsman, Producer, Firefighter & Public Speaker

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