I read the life of Arthur Walkington Pink almost a year ago
now and as far as biographies go I think it is the one I enjoyed the most. I
have read the life story of a number of people, mainly Christian men and women
because I want to know of their walk with God rather than how some guy made a
million dollars or how some other guy split twins who were born with their
heads joined together. Don’t get me wrong there is some value in reading such
books, I just don’t see the reason to keep reading similar, it offers me little
or nothing. But I have digressed. I have read the of the lives of men like John
Owen, David Brainard and the man who held the top position before Pink took it,
Dwight Lyman Moody.
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| Best buddies we would be |
I had heard a lot about Mr Pink from books that he had
written, I have also read a few but I was never in a hurry to read his life
story after all the man’s name is Pink. But One day during my frequent perusal
in my father’s library I came across the book. Picked it off the shelf and dove
straight in. It was an intriguing read for me. At this point I have to add a
disclaimer, my taste in books is most likely really different from most hence
what I call intriguing to others would be run of the mill stuff, I don’t get
why you would gloss over such details though.
Anyhoo as I read through the life of the man I saw a couple
of similarities between us, not a thousand but a couple. He was my height and
build, I checked. He much like me enjoyed a good meal but had little or no
chance to ever get fat, much to my dismay though I’m not too sure about him,
but possibly him too. He had an avid interest in books. He had a quirky sense
of humour and was quite the secluded individual but his love for humanity was
great. The last point is one of those that has gotten him the most criticism.
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| How can you not like that face, he just looks like a good guy |
As I read the book I saw something that was not latched on
to greatly by the biographer. This could be me making a ginormous leap in logic
but I saw his struggle to reconcile reaching out to his fellow men with the
message of his saviour with his secluded, sometimes pensive personality. I got
this feeling down to T. I wouldn’t call Pinks persona anti-social, but he had a
real struggle reconciling those two aspects of his life. His solution may not
have been the best or the wisest but the life of A W Pink is testimony to how
God is the master at creating beautiful work from blunt tools.
In the life of Pink that I readily associate with is the need
to be spent in the service of the master, God, in whatever way brings the most out
of his life to glorify God. I saw a man who was willing to be burnt out in
service of God. A man who thought to himself my skills lie not in talking to
them, so I will spend myself breaking down the bible in diligent study so that
they may have access to the truth in its vast array of colour and in turn
search for themselves. This is a man who though frail and sickly in his later
years would still make sure he would get his message onto paper that the world
may know. This was a man who wrote and broke down key truths in the bible for
little or no profit to himself. And when he could not write for himself he had
someone do the writing while he spoke, such dedication… such dedication
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| My ideal first collection of books, now you know what to get me for me birthday |
In the life of Pink I see little of what I am and I see a
lot of what I want to be, I see the picture of burning it all on the altar of a
cause that is greater than myself. An eternal cause. I would like to sit with
the man and understand what he went through and what it cost him. I would like
to sit down with the man and know the flaws as well as the virtues, learn from
a man so similar… a man so similar.
In the life of Pink I see so much of what I want to become
and yet I also see so much of what I should avoid. The lessons to be learned
from people similar to yourself are not just the good things but the bad things
as well. Get the virtue and avoid the vice. In my opinion he should not have
isolated himself as much as he did. He could have done more for people in his
time if he got out of his room more often.
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| Thats me and pink having a chat over coca cola |
If I were to meet him I would see us enjoying a cold glass
of coca cola talking about his life and his study, I know this because many a
time we have done so, me with his book and two glasses of coca cola. Granted I
drink his share when Im done with mine but that’s beside the point. I figure I
will continue to sit with the man and have more conversations in which he will
help me understand my bible and my God more. I figure I will continue to enjoy
the work of a man who was burnt out for a cause. I figure I would have been
really good friends with A W Pink
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