Life, a Series of Bye-Byes

Abe Miller, Senior Minister
Thu Jul 10 11:15:57 MST 2008

              It has been said that life is a series of “good byes.” When Shirley and I were first married, we lived in Massillon, Ohio. The young preacher that was there had a daughter that called him “Bye-Bye.” He was in and out of the house so much, and calling on people took him away from the family; consequently, she didn’t know her father as daddy but rather as “Bye-Bye.” I know that may sound rather humorous, but in reality it is sad that a child is that detached from the father. Unfortunately, that is the story of many preachers. Perhaps that may be part of the reason that preachers children grow up and often distance themselves from the ministry.

             Think of the long string of “good byes” we go through in our life time. We grow up with playmates that move away to whom we say, “Bye-Bye.” Kids in junior high and high school who have friends or classmates, who must bid each other “good-byes” because of moving or graduating. On to college, they make new friends, and sooner or later those ties have to be broken with a “good bye.” Next is the job market where we establish friends with co-worker, and sooner or later those friendships have to terminate with “Bye-Bye.” Because of a lack of job security, these “Bye-Byes” are more frequent than in the past. Retirement soon comes along, and we have to break ties with people in the workforce. With mixed emotions, for some to say “good bye” knowing that life will be completely different.

            There are other areas of life where “good byes” are even more painful, such as social ties which are developed through church and community activities which often are close ties. As someone has said, “The price of friendship that must be paid is that sooner or later that friendship must be severed.” No doubt, one of the painful “good byes” is losing a friend or family member in death. Since death is inevitable, all of us must experience this pain. Perhaps for us who are Christians, instead of saying “good bye” we should be more expressive of our faith and say, “I will see you over yonder?” That should be as real for us as if we were using this phrase in reference to this life.

            The ultimate, as far as pain is concerned, is to see Christians who have said “Bye-Bye” to Jesus and the  Christian faith because they have “loved this present world.” This is what Scripture call, “spiritual death.” They have turned their back on the only source of spiritual life, which is “knowing God” through Jesus Christ. This is more painful than physical death.

            All of the above should be a vivid reminder to us that we live in a world that is only temporary. The marvel of the gospel message is that we can have “eternal life” in this temporary world. What a joy to know that we can have something eternal in a temporary world. So my encouragement to all Christians is “live by faith”; what is seen will soon be over. Then there will be no more “Bye-Byes,” but until then, “Bye-Byes” are something we will always have to put up with.