WANNA DONUT?

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending school in Utah. Brother Christianson taught at this particular school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown outof another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother Christianson's class. Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over. One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother Christianson said.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited-it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"

Cynthia said, "Yes."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten..

Then Steve again sat in his desk. Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk. Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes."

Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?" Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"

Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No."

Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved. Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely. Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"

Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups.. You can do them any way that you want." And Bro. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!"

Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."

Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

"Yes."

"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut? Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda..

Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?" Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Christianson, can I help him?"

Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said.

"And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten

-- Author Unknown

-- I believe in Him (Jesus is King@Kingdom.come), May 02, 2001

Answers

Was Steve acting out of pride or love?

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), May 02, 2001.

By the time our boy had gotten out of the hospital from exhaustion, Brother Christianson had been fired and the school settled with us for an enourmous sum of money. The parents of the other have formed a class-action lawsuit because of the trauma their children suffered from being forced to participate in Steve's torture, and the ACLU is suing on behalf of the violated civil rights of the students. Dunkin' Donuts has dropped their sponsorship of the football team.

-- (steves@parents.com), May 02, 2001.

I'm sure Steve was acting out of pride at first. Beyond that?

The real story was/is that Jesus was willing to die for our sin so we could have a home with Him for eternity.

All we need to do is accept His free gift of love to us and repent of the sin all are guilty of.

John 3:16-17

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

blessings....

-- I believe in Him (Jesus is King@Kingdom.come), May 02, 2001.

I believe--

I am not necessarily disagreeing with you but but your statement is one of faith not demonstrable fact. I would be interested to hear how you or anyone has reached faith.

That said, there is a sticking point in the Christ-story for some of us----many of the students didn't want a donut freely given thru someone else's pain. IMO Christianity's greatest message is God's grace but I've never been moved by the idea that Christ died for *me*.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), May 02, 2001.

I am not necessarily disagreeing with you but but your statement is one of faith not demonstrable fact.

Most of what we do in life is based on some kind of hope/faith.

I work at my job with faith my employer will provide a paycheck at my weeks end.

Often I must rely on hope/faith that co-workers, mail delivery services, utilities, etc. will do their jobs in order for me to accomplish my job as well as keep things in my personal life on track.

I can't prove any of them will do their jobs but through hope/faith I rely on them to do so.

I've never been moved by the idea that Christ died for *me*.

Thats ok. I didn't believe at one point in my life either. It was only after putting the pieces of the puzzle together over the years that I did believe. It wasn't just one 'thing' that did it for me. It took time and a open mind.

I heard forever about sin until I wanted to puke. It wasn't until more pieces to the 'puzzle' were filled in that understood that 'sin' was really just rebelion against a God that I now belived in with my whole heart and because I believed and loved Him I wanted to obey Him.

Let me be the first to say I still screw up and am FAR from 'Holier than thou'. Just because I am a believer in Jesus doesn't mean I stopped being a sinner. The difference now is I am forgiven through the sacrifice Jesus made for me on the cross. This is NOT an excuse for me to willfully sin however.

My way didn't make it for me anymore so I choose to do things Gods way. I now understand how much God loves me and am comforted by Him daily.

God really does love us. He loves us individually and not just as a people.

I don't know if I answered your thoughts/questions but I hope I shed some light on my faith.

May God open the hearts and minds of those reading this and bless them with understanding to the truth of Jesus Christ here tonight.

May God bless....

-- I believe in Him (Jesus is King@Kingdom.come), May 02, 2001.

I kindof get lost in these analogies. It's not just this one. I couldn't follow Flint's logic with the car payments and the insurance either. Anyway, I thought the story was a good one in that Steve probably gained more acceptance from his classmates doing those pushups for them than he'd ever had before. Lots of kids who act tough do so because they feel they don't fit in.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 02, 2001.

"Thats ok. I didn't believe at one point in my life either. It was only after putting the pieces of the puzzle together over the years that I did believe. It wasn't just one 'thing' that did it for me. It took time and a open mind".

I believe---

Thanks. You partly answered my question. I think that you are saying that Christian faith came to you gradually, not in an epiphany.

I am as interested in how people have reached their present state of belief/disbelief as I am in their actual beliefs. I am especially interested in those who have experienced significant changes in belief (or disbelief) rather than those who have always believed as they do now. I think I will start a thread on this subject.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), May 03, 2001.

I didn't ask for any fictional donut and I don't want a fictional donut. Contrary to your lame tale, no one bothered to ask me if I wanted a fictional donut, and I sure wasn't in any class run by this Brother Xtianson, so I don't have to follow his "rules."

Perhaps your imaginary savior decided to go through an ordeal in order to PRESSURE me into accepting his donut. "Gosh, Mr. Atheist, after everything our imaginary deity went through for you, even without you asking for it or wanting it, aren't you going to feel bad if you turn down the free gift?"

Nope. Not at all. This is emotional blackmail, plain and simple. Mohammed went through some serious crap for his religion; why don't I become a Muslim? Or a Jew, after everything they've been through since Abraham?

An offer is an offer, I Believe, and nothing else. If your Messiah appears to me an says "I will suffer and die for your sins," then that's and offer, and that's one thing. But if a historical figure suffers and dies, claiming "I am dying for the sins of everyone who came before me and for everyone who will come after me, well, that's no offer -- just sophistry.

-- You're Not Getting My Wallet (xtians.are@full.of.it.com), May 04, 2001.