Week 3
Brian Welch
by: Todd Veleber
If you are being honest it seems like it would be pretty awesome to be number one right? I mean who wouldn’t want that. To be the best athlete the world has ever known: maybe that means being the fastest runner, winning the Super Bowl, breaking MLB’s homerun record held by Barry Bonds. Or maybe for some of you it would being known as the wealthiest person in the world – you could literally have everything money could buy. None of us are there, but it would seem that view from the top must be pretty awesome.
But what happens when you’ve reached the top and something’s still missing… then what? You finally make it to the number one spot – a place you’ve always wanted to get to and then you realize it didn’t satisfy you like you thought it would. Where or what do you turn to then?
I introduced you to Brian “Head” Welch. One day and realized his life was spinning out of control. As founding member and lead guitarist for the band Korn, people worshipped Brian’s music. He made all the money, had all the cars, houses and women he could handle, but still found himself with a crippling addiction to Meth. “I couldn’t stay sober. I didn’t know how. I hit rock bottom.” There’s a point when you finally look in the mirror at an image that you’re simply tired of seeing. Brian wanted to quit, but what if quitting required complete surrender?
VIDEO: I Am Second (Brian Welch)
I know you probably think a few things after seeing that video. Like, wow that dude has a lot of tattoos. And you might be thinking – how could God save a guy like that? Because no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Brian is a great example that you can try everything this world offers and it still doesn’t fill that void in your life – it’s a void that only God can fill. You may be looking at Brian and still passing judgment on him. He doesn’t really look like a Christian. He doesn’t look like me or he isn’t someone I would want to hang out with.
Isn’t that awesome. God didn’t come for people who have it all together – He came for the broken. He didn’t come for the healthy – He came for the sick! You heard Brian tell you how sick he was – the drugs and the life he was living had taken it’s toll on him, his daughter and everyone around Him. Then someone cared enough about Brian to share a Bible verse with him. The guy obviously didn’t look down on him or pass judgment on him, but cared enough about him to share God’s Word with him. Do you remember the verse that changed Brian’s life? It was Matthew 11:28
He heard that Jesus can give Him rest. That Jesus was the answer to the burdens in His life. Think about your life for a minute, what in your life makes you weary and burdened? What are you chasing after to try to find life? What are you struggling in that you need to give to God? Where in your life do you need healing?
Will you live your life in such a way that Jesus is first and you are last? That’s what it really means to be second. That we love God and we love others and put them before ourselves. When you truly understand that then you will be able to say, “I am second.”
