“It’s good To Be Denny”

“It’s good to be Denny” - a phrase I hear bandied about my father’s home on a regular basis.  It’s become a family joke and pretty much describes my stepbrother, Denny who always seems to be living the “Good Life”.  He’s part of that generation of now twenty-somethings that up until the war in Iraq have not had to face any real hardships in life - but Denny especially.  His biological father passed away before he was born.  His stepfather, my father, was more mature in his judgments when it came to raising Denny.  After all, my father had already raised two boys some 17 years prior, so Denny profited from having an older, wiser father figure. 

Lastly, Denny has never had to want for anything.  His biological father left him a trust fund so at five years of age Denny got a top of the line computer, during his preteens he had lavish birthday parties that included a day at Six Flags amusement park, a sleep over, and all the pizza he and his abundant friends could eat.  When he turned sixteen, he got a car.  When he went to college in Colorado (chosen for its proximity to numerous snowboarding opportunities), the family Ford Explorer, an Eddie Bauer edition with leather interior and heated seats, went along with him.  After graduation, he loafed for a year biding his time between Cubs baseball games and road-trips to PHISH concert tours.  With no end in sight, my father found Denny a job – which offered travel throughout the US and Europe, a great starting salary and lots of company-paid training. 

So -- it’s good to be Denny.  Other than a few scrapes with the law as a teenager, he’s really never been tested or challenged.  Don’t get me wrong, I do not begrudge Denny the opportunities he has had. I’m old enough to see the full picture and understand that my circumstances were far different growing up.  Mine were a little tougher, but as my father has often told me, “what does not kill you makes you stronger.” Then of course that’s followed up with “builds character,” my personal favorite. 

What troubles me about the statement “It’s good to be Denny” is that up to now, Denny has never had to face any real trials in his life.  Subsequently he has never had to cry out to God, has never felt the freedom in God’s forgiveness and has never experienced God’s Grace.  Worse, he has no interest in knowing God.  Not that he feels there is anything wrong with believing in God, as his mother and stepfather do, it’s just not his thing.  Although he is a sincere, helpful and charming young man, Denny sees no use in religion.

It reminds me of the rich man who encountered Jesus and asked what it is he should do to get into the kingdom of God?  Jesus responded simply, give away all that you have and follow me.  The young man walked away disappointed, having lived the Ten Commandments yet Jesus asked him to give up absolutely everything he owned.  It was hard for that young man, he could not let go of his “Good Life.”  It would be hard for most of us, even if we had nothing of any real value.  As the young man turned his back on Jesus and everlasting life, Jesus told his disciples how much easier is it for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

God uses heartbreak to grow us. Disappointment to draw us near.  If our lives are nothing but a constant flow of earthly highs and level plateaus, never hitting bottom, we may never feel the real longing to seek God, to hear His voice and desire to follow His ways.  How do you reach someone and even plant a seed if, like the rich man, they have everything earthly they could ever desire? 

It’s a challenge for any Christian to witness to this type of individual, and it makes one wonder what it is that really stirs ones soul toward Jesus?  It also makes you realize that the sheep hear His voice and He knows them by name.   You may never see seeds come to fruition when you are witnessing but still you must.  Everyday is a gift, not a given and at any moment the individual that you felt didn’t “need” Jesus, may search Him out. So for now, it may seem that it’s been good to be Denny.  But there may come a day that he may ask, “Lord, what must I do?”