“There are rare Christians whose very presence incites others to be better Christians.” – A. W. Tozer
When Gary Burns told me, “If you ever need anything, anything — and I mean this, I’m serious — let me know,” I remember thinking it was a kind thing to say.
People say things like that all the time.
But Gary paused, our eyes locked and he repeated, “I’m serious.”
Over time, I learned that he was indeed serious.
Gary passed away in August. He had been the Lake Union Herald editor before me and was instrumental in recruiting me for the position, first to work alongside him and then succeed him. He was the kind of person whose faith was most evident in how he treated people. There was a gentleness about him, a warm smile, a twinkle in his eye, and a willingness to make room for others.
In February 2006, Gary wrote in the Herald: “To be in partnership with God demands we be in partnership with one another,” describing a relationship in which, through God’s Spirit, “we bear one another’s burdens in truth and love.”
Gary wasn’t interested in drawing attention to himself. He looked beyond himself, beyond age, background or status, and saw people who needed encouragement, prayer or simply someone willing to listen.
I watched him read letters from our dear Herald readers, some he had known professionally but also some he’d never met, including people in prison and others walking through painful seasons. He did not merely read their words and move on. He wrote back. Sometimes he visited them and prayed with them.
That was Gary.
As I think about what he taught me, I realize some of his most enduring lessons were not about the church and communication. He reminded me that the key indicator of one’s commitment to Christ is not found in how many of the 28 Fundamentals they can recite or how quickly they can thumb through the Bible to find the book of Ezra or the level of their spiritual gifts. It is found in the gentle and kind response to our fellow man, especially those considered the “least of these,” which when we think about it is showing the face of Jesus. Gary modeled what it meant to be present, to carry another person’s burden and in so doing, he fulfilled the law of Christ.
Rest easy, gentle warrior. Until that great gettin’ up mornin’.
Debbie Michel serves as Lake Union Herald editor.
