Finally the Rest of the Best...

I am not going to complain about any flags today, no today is the rest of the top five day. And there was much rejoicing. Yay.

Remember, this is the top five most influential people in my life that I have never actually met. So far it has been dominated by authors. So I will start with a songwriter:

3. Rich Mullins
I should first point out, I am not actually a huge fan of his music (though the Jesus Demos is absolutely amazing), what I am a fan of is the way that he lived his life. Here is a guy that ruled the Christian music scene for the better part of a decade. Many churches are still playing his music on a weekly basis. He sold many records, sold out many concerts and still lived like a normal human being. He took only the national average salary, he lived in a trailer, he still taught music to poor children, he chose to live on a Native American reservation. Wait a minute. He had all the success in the world and lived like this. He did not live like a normal man. He live BETTER.

I watched a video on Mullins life after my freshman year in college, while on leadership retreat in inner city Tacoma. I still doubted whether "real" Christians existed. We were studying Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" (see Matthew chapters 5-7), the greatest ethical teaching found in scripture, and I had never seen anyone live this way. I was losing hope. Hope for my church, my friends and myself. I was ready to leave. Not just Tacoma, but InterVarsity and even my newfound faith. The video on Mullins (named "Homeless Man" by the way) gave me the hope that I was lacking. I have been on this project three times since. I have watched the video every time and I have gained a renewed hope every time. Watch the video. Listen to the Jesus Demos. Let God show you what is possible in Him.

4. John Eldridge
John Eldridge is an interesting name to have on my list because I often disagree with him. He's much more conservative than me. I don't think that I would raise my children the way he does (his boys seem a little out of control). Yet no author inspires me to action more than Eldridge.

Eldridge is the author of The Sacred Romance, Journey of Desire, Epic, Wild at Heart and many more. All of these books have different focus', yet they all are remarkably similar, they basically are about the reality that God calls is people into an abundant, exciting, heroic adventure. An adventure with romance, good and evil, and concrete beginning and end. Epic is the most recent book and perhaps the best. Eldridge breaks the entirety of scripture into a four part narrative. It is a brilliant way to remind the reader of the reality of our world, the world given to us by our Creator.

Eldridge has given me the permission to look at my own heart, and see the handprint of God. Why do I like comics? Why Star Wars? Why am I a romantic? Bigger questions; why is Lord of the Rings a cultural phenomenon? Why has every culture throughout history, created myths about heroic battles and struggles about justice? Because God is a warrior against evil. Because God created our hearts and our abilities to appreciate beauty, hate evil and step up for what we believe in. Eldridge sees the Bible as the most amazing and true story ever put to paper. He's right. And I thank him.

5. Martin Luther King Jr
MLK is a hard person to put on a list like this. He was obviously a great man. He obviously changed the world. But isn't he just PC person to put on a list? He would be, but something he wrote did actually change my life, let me explain.

When I was a freshman at WSU I took an Ethics class and loved it. It was ultimately why I became a philosophy major and was the first academic area I took to. As I continued in philosophy, I took many courses, but none held as much interest for me as my ethics classes. They just seemed to practical, so life changing and called so much of my own life into question. Along the way I read MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It was written to fellow clergyman who were calling his methods for peace into question. King's response was what every Christian needed to hear, being a Christian did not mean sitting and watching injustice saying to yourself "Oh, it will be so much better than heaven". King argued that he followed every legal route that the laws of the land had to offer, but when those laws are unjust, he would be willing to break those laws and follow God's law over that of the United States. This is the same law that prophets followed. This is the same law that Jesus followed. This is the same law that Paul followed. This was the law that the King lead Civil Rights Movement followed. And this is the law that all of us must follow in order to live ethically and to seek justice. King was a modern day Christian, leading a Christian movement, who's first responsibility was to his Lord. His second to his country. And wouldn't you know it, God used him to change the US and world for the better. All this in a philosophy class huh?

My list again (no particular order)
1. CS Lewis
2. Stan Lee
3. Rich Mullins
4. John Eldridge
5. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Again, I encourage others to send me their top five lists. I will post any that I receive. By doing this list I have been reminded about where I have come from, the questions I have wrestled with and the way that the invisible hand of Jesus has been their every step of the way with me. It's very therapeutic. I highly recommend it.