7 Things I Took Away From Pastor Chuck Smith's Memorial

Pastor Chuck Smith has impacted many lives over the course of his life.  I am one of them.  I consider myself part of the second generation of the Calvary Chapel movement.  I was not part of the Jesus movement (I wasn't even born yet), I was not a former hippie, and I was not directly impacted by Chuck Smith.  

Yet in 2002 my dad got me hooked on listening to KWVE (107.9).  I had grown up in a seeker-friendly church, so verse by verse bible teaching was new to me.  In fact, when I first heard Pastor Chuck on the radio, I thought he was legalistic!  I actually thought the man who wrote Why Grace Changes Everything was full of legalism.  You see, I was so used to a watered down version of the gospel that when I heard Pastor Chuck boldly speak the truth, I was initially offended.  But my dad encouraged me to keep listening, and God began to open my eyes to the power of the Word of God.

A couple of years later I went to Calvary Chapel Bible College.  One of our "classes" was to listen to Chuck teach through the Bible - Genesis to Revelation.  That is the closest I ever got to Pastor Chuck.  I never had a conversation with him, I never gave him a hug or shook his hand; yet the impact he has had on my life cannot be put into words.  

Pastor Chuck's impact didn't end with the hippies in the 70's.  He's still impacting lives today through his radio program, his Chuck Tracks, and through the lives of the pastors that he mentored.  

When I heard there would be a tribute to Pastor Chuck at the Honda Center, I initially thought it would be too small.  How can a stadium of 15,000 or so hold all the lives that were impacted by Chuck Smith?  

As the tribute started, I felt the Spirit of God come over me and I started writing.  I wrote down everything I could about the tribute service.  Below is what God gave me.  There were seven things I took away from the tribute to Chuck.  I believe these things sum up what God did in the life of Pastor Chuck Smith:   

1.  Jesus was glorified

• Being interviewed by Greg Laurie, Chuck was asked, "What do you want to be remembered by?" Chuck said, "When we get to heaven, all of the focus will be on Jesus.  He will be glorified through his saints for all eternity."  Chuck never kept the focus on himself, he always kept it on Jesus.
• Brian Brodersen, son in law of Chuck Smith and now senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, said, "Chuck was a servant of Jesus.  When we honor Chuck, we are honoring the name of Jesus."
• Jon Courson, founding pastor of Applegate Christian Fellowship, added, "Calvary Chapel is all about Jesus - nothing less, nothing more, nothing else....Keep the main thing the  main thing - Jesus is the main thing."

2.  Generations were impacted

• The bulletin of the tribute said, "Rarely does one man impact an entire generation, but Chuck Smith is such a man.  Spiritual father to thousands, Chuck Smith leaves a legacy that reaches across the nation and around the world."
• From what I've heard, there are now over 2,000 Calvary Chapel churches, thousands of affiliate churches, and thousands of churches that have been impacted by Chuck not directly affiliated with Calvary Chapel.  That translates to hundreds of thousands of people that have been impacted by his life, not to mention the millions who have been touched by his radio program, books, and resources.
• Scott Cunningham, one of the worship leaders at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, said, "My parents have been impacted by Chuck, I've been impacted, my kids have been impacted by Chuck, and I'm sure my kids' kids will be impacted."  I wonder how many thousands of people could say the same thing as Scott?

3.  Steps of Faith were taken

• Tom Stipe, senior pastor of Crossroads Church of Denver, reminisced that when Calvary Chapel was just starting to grow, a sanctuary was being built to seat 600 people.  Tom and Chuck were in a car and Chuck suddenly pulled over and told Tom they needed to pray.  An opportunity had come up to purchase 10 acres on what is now Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Chuck prayed, "If this is the ambition of men, then don't let it happen."  The rest is history.
• Chuck let sinners and rejects into his house, his car, and his church who all became extremely successful pastors and Christian leaders. 
• Chuck let a 19 year old Greg Laurie start Harvest Christian Fellowship by purchasing an old baptist church  for $150,000.  The rest is history.
• Bob Coy, who previously worked at a casino, and is now senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, one of the biggest churches in America, was told by Chuck, "Go for it....Yes you can call it Calvary Chapel."  And the rest is history.
• Jack Hibbs, now senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, said he went down to Chuck because he was teaching a bible study in Chino Hills and people were coming and they were asking to start a church.  Jack didn't know what to do.  He said Chuck prayed for him that God would work in the situation and then left his office and went to lunch.  Two weeks later Jack received his Calvary Chapel ordination papers.  And the rest is history.
• When Chuck wanted to do a big crusade like Billy Graham, he asked Greg Laurie to do it.  When Chuck told Greg they should do it at the Pacific Amphitheater, Greg said, "That's a really big place," and Chuck replied, "Greg, we serve a really big God.". The Harvest Crusade was birthed.  And the rest is history.

4.  Revival was birthed

• Historians will say that Chuck Smith's legacy ended with the Jesus movement.  It was America's last great revival.  Tom Stipe read somewhere that revival ended in 1979.  But when you look at the generations upon generations that have been impacted by Chuck, you will see that the revival is still going.  I am a prime example.  I am part of the second generation of the Calvary Chapel movement.
• Mark 2:15 talks about how Jesus was a friend of sinners.  Tom Stipe said that in order to have revival of thousands you have to have thousands of sinners.  Chuck reached out to sinners and Jesus made them saints.

5.  Love was manifested

• Chuck Smith will be remembered for his love for people.  This was shown in Calvary Chapel's statement of faith: "The supreme evidence of the Spirit filled life is the fruit of the Spirit, love."
• Skip Heitzig, founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Albuquerque, said, "Chuck's love was shown through his grace.  He was gracious to people when nobody else was.  He gave people chances when nobody else did."
• Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church, one of the largest churches in America, added, "The greatest thing I remember about Chuck was his infectious laughter and his beaming smile.  The joy and the love of Jesus was evident in him."

6.  The Word of God was exposited

• Skip Heitzig said he remembers Chuck most as a servant, who desired to teach, equip, and train other servants in the Word of God.
• Jon Courson added, "We all remember the first time we heard we heard Pastor Chuck teach and how it impacted us, whether it was through the radio, an mp3, or live in person.  He just simply taught the Bible simply."
• Chuck taught through the Bible to his church, Genesis to Revelation, over seven times.
• Cheryl Brodersen, daughter of Chuck Smith, said her dad "never lost the thrill of preaching the Word of God."

7.  Israel was recognized

• God told Abraham about his descendants in Genesis 12:3, "I will bless those that bless you..."
• David Siegel, the Consulate General of Israel, said "in the 65 years of Israel as a modern nation, they would be hard pressed to find a greater friend and supporter than Pastor Chuck Smith."  
• David reckoned it to the friendship of David and Jonathan.  He said, "Pastor Chuck is the Jonathan to the nation of Israel."
• Steve Mays, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel South Bay, added, "Pastor Chuck always taught us to pray everyday for Israel."
• Chuck visited the nation of Israel over 60 times

These are just some of the memories that were given at Pastor Chuck's memorial.  The tribute went on for four hours yet it felt like 40 minutes.  It was a powerful demonstration of what God can do in the life of a person who fully surrenders their life to God.

On a personal note, the impact of Pastor Chuck continues to this day.  God is doing powerful things through the second generation of Calvary Chapel.  Just look at the lives of Phil Wickham, Evan Wickham, Scott Cunningham, Jeremy Camp, Chad Williams, Garid Beeler, Levi Lusko, and so many others.  

Thank you Pastor Chuck for your faithfulness to God's calling.  And ultimately, thank you Jesus for the work that you do in our lives.