Don Wildmon

AFA/AFR founder

February 1996 – I received a letter from a supporter recently.  I’m afraid it reflects the feelings of many. I want to share it with you.

“Dear Dr. Wildmon. Enclosed find donation. Soon I will retire. This is my last donation. The way I see it, we will never win. I give up. It is a losing battle.”

The letter, no doubt, was written in a down moment. But I’m hopeful it doesn’t reflect the true feelings of my friend. It is understandable that my friend would have a down moment. We all have them. I do. You do. There come times when we say we are fighting a losing battle and are ready to throw in the towel.

On the surface it does appear that we are fighting a losing battle, that we will never win. And, admittedly, it is tough to keep on keeping on when we hit those periods.

Paul, the hero of the faith, faced those moments. But he didn’t give in to them. He told the Christians in Galatia not to give in to them. “Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”

Not too many weeks ago a reporter asked me if my life had been wasted, if the battle we have been fighting for nearly 20 years was lost. He implied that my efforts had accomplished little or nothing and wanted to know if I would do it again.

My response? No, my life was not wasted. When one seeks a high goal, pursues it with all the strength and ability he has, then that life is never wasted. I would rather set my goal high and apparently fail, than never to attempt to do the good God calls us to do. When one invests his life in a great endeavor, even if the goal isn’t reached, it is never a wasted life.

I have lived long enough to learn that God doesn’t call us to be successful. I do not always have control over the success of my life’s efforts, and God doesn’t hold me responsible for how the battle ends. God does, however, call each of us to be faithful. And that, we can do. That which we can do, God expects us to do.

I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet, to call it quits. Sure, it gets tough at times, especially when those who should be your greatest allies ignore the battle. The greatest disappointment I’ve had in this battle has been the apathy of the institutional church. But I am encouraged that there are some individual churches that are not in that mode, that are doing what they can to make a difference and to help turn the tide.

So I say to my friend who is discouraged: never, never, never, never, never give up. Keep on keeping on. Stay the course. Remain faithful. Leave the accounting to God. In due season – in this life or the next – we shall reap our reward.

Christ did not say, “Well done, good and successful servant,” but rather “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

There is a world of difference in the two.