Traveling this summer to the top of Hensley Mountain
in the region of Yaak, MT, we traversed over switchback trails that meander
through forests of Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine. Toward the top of the mountain
clusters of Balsam pines dot the landscape just before our four-wheelers topped
the almost flat ridge. At the top of Hensley we took in the breathtaking vistas
looking toward the mountains of Canada to the north and Idaho to the west. Dark
valleys connected the mountains and the Yaak River twists and turns through the
valley below until it is hidden by mountains in the distance. God’s creation is
majestic!
This now barren mountain top was
once heavily influenced by the US Air force from 1951-1960. On this site the
680th AC&W (Aircraft Control and Warning) Squadron maintained
radar surveillance providing early detection of potential enemy bombers during
the “Cold War” period. In its heyday between 200-300 airmen, living five miles
from the mountain peak, supported the Radome Operation on Hensley Mountain. The
“white mushroom” radar dome has disappeared as well as the various outbuildings
located on the mountain top. One of the former airmen who served there, Richard
Hofler, revisited Hensley Mountain in 1992, and wrote, “There was virtually no
indication we, the 680th, had ever been there.” They had influenced
a mountain for a moment in time, but it had not been a lasting influence.
This summer I walked around the top
of Hensley and saw very few remaining remnants of the 680th Squadron
– just several concrete pilings imbedded with massive anchor bolts. No other
reminders existed. Probably millions of dollars, thousands of hours, lots of
manpower, and major planning had been invested in the project on the mountain. However,
the former airman was right, there was virtually no indication “that they had
ever been there.” They were just a
temporary intrusion on a mountain that had and would last for centuries.
Perhaps this picture of the 680th
Squadron illustrates the way some people view the impact they will have in
their world. They have low expectations and ask, “In the long run what
difference will I make in the world anyway?” Their view is that they will not
make a lasting influence, so why try. On the other hand, there are those who
will have higher aspirations and expectations. They will ask the same question,
but they will strive for a greater impact and will live desiring to be agents
of change that will make an impact. We all have influence. As Mike Myatt
states, “Anyone can create moments of influence, but creating lasting influence
is where your sights should be set.” People who strive to have a lasting
influence will be legacy builders. They are not satisfied with the status quo
and by being preoccupied with things that will not matter. They live for
purposes beyond themselves.
To live such a life there are at
least three ingredients to help us do so. First, invest your life wisely. Jesus told his
followers in Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Too often we are
spending all our time and energy investing in the temporal and not the eternal.
The temporal is easily removable just as a radar station can be removed from a
mountain despite all the investment that was made.
Second, live your life carefully. The
Apostle Paul realized that a life can be fully invested and yet end up poorly.
He writes in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 that a person who will have a lasting
influence must live in such a way that their life does not end up being
disqualified and therefore wasted in the end. Recent history in our nation
provides numerous examples of people who expended vast sums of wealth and
energy to be or do something only to end up a sordid joke because of living
distorted lives. There are multiple examples too of Bible characters that
started out well, but destroyed the impact they might have had through careless
living. An author reports a study by Dr. J. Robertson Clinton, of Fuller
Seminary, who “found that only one out of three biblical leaders maintained a
dynamic faith that enabled them to avoid abusing their power or doing something
harmful to themselves or others. Only one in three finished well.”
Third, live your life serving
selflessly. When the Apostle Paul describes how life is to be lived as a
Christian in Romans 12:9-21, he describes a winsome life. Such a life is marked
by selflessly looking at ways to love and serve other people. Living such a
life leaves a mark in the world. Think of people who have had a positive and lasting
influence in our world’s history. How often you see in them qualities that give
“flesh” to verse 10, “Honor one another above yourselves.”
I suppose one could say we will all
be a person of influence. Will that influence be a good or a poor one? Will
that influence be a lasting one or a passing one? Christ expects his followers
to be agents of change in a world than desperately needs positive influences.
Thus he says His followers should be light and salt in the world (see Matthew
5:13-14). Make it your goal to be more than a temporary influence in the world
in which God has placed you. Our world desperately needs people who will leave
positive lasting legacies!
