An unselfish heart has the power to lift up, change the community

The 2020 Difference Maker nominees were described by keynote speaker Byron Beck as unselfish servants in their communities who lift others.

In his address, presented virtually Thursday night as part of the Daily American Republic’s second annual Difference Maker of the Year event, Beck described himself as a “pretty big basketball fan.”

“If you know anything about it, you would probably not disagree with me when I said Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson is one of the greatest players to ever play the game,” said Beck, senior pastor at Fellowship General Baptist Church.

One of the things that set Johnson apart, according to Beck, is the “theme for tonight,” being a difference maker.

Johnson, Beck said, was the kind of player who made everyone around him better.

“He was a consummate team player,” Beck said. “He just knew how to help his teammates play to the best of their abilities.”

But, Beck said, that was not something that came naturally to Johnson.

“When Magic Johnson was growing up and playing basketball in the playgrounds of East Lansing, Michigan, he had a coach say to him, ‘Look, Earvin, you’ve taller than everybody. You shoot better than everybody. You play better; you dribble better,’” Beck said.

Knowing Johnson’s abilities, Beck said, his coach told him “every time you get the ball, just shoot it. … So, as a young 10- or 11-year-old boy, he believes in listening to his coach, and so, he did just that.

“Every time he got the ball, he would drive to the basket, and he would shoot.”

Johnson, Beck said, recalled he was scoring points, and his team was winning virtually every game, but “he noticed something. He said when he would make a speculator play and score that nobody wanted to high five him.

“… When the games were over … he noticed that no one was smiling. No one was enjoying themselves. That’s when this 10- to 11-year-old realized something was wrong, and something needed to change.”

What happened next, Beck said, was “pretty amazing. What he decided that needed to be changed was him. He needed to change his style of play.”

At that point, Beck said, Johnson decided to be the kind of player who “makes everyone else better,” and he was going to learn how to “pass better than anybody.”

Beck said Johnson began to study the strengths of his teammates and decided he was going to help them “be better at what they do well.”

Johnson, Beck said, strived to be the kind of player “who gets everybody else involved. So, now, when he would drive down the lane with the basketball, and everybody in the gym thought he was going to shoot, and three opposing players would converge on him … (he would) get the ball off to a teammate.

“Then, his teammate would shoot, and they would score.”

Beck said Johnson spoke of him and his teammates then running “back down the floor; everybody is high fiving everybody. Everybody is smiling, and everybody is having fun.

“He said, ‘It was a totally different feeling … (and) we still won. We won just as many games as we won when I was the ball hog.’”

Beck quoted Pat Riley, who was coach of the Los Angeles Lakers during their “dynasty years” in the 1980s, who said, “We won five NBA championships in the 1980s because of this lesson learned by a 10- to 11-year-old boy on the streets of East Lansing, Michigan.”

Johnson, Beck said, as a boy learned the “power of lifting people. He learned the power of an unselfish heart, a heart that focuses on other people — what do they need, what can I give you, how can I enrich you, how can I serve you, how can I make you a better person, how can we together make a difference.”

It appears intuitive for people to think their lives would be better if they always think about themselves, Beck explained.

“You would definitely think it makes sense in our own minds; if you want to achieve the highest levels of happiness, just be selfish, but, guess what, that doesn’t work,” Beck said. “In fact, the opposite is true.”

According to Beck, there is an old Proverb, which says, “if you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.

“If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune, but if you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody. Jesus himself said if you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be a servant of all.”

Beck said he likes a statement from Winston Churchill, who said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Although this year’s Difference Makers event is different than originally planned, Beck said, it is “wonderful that we can still honor the nominees and announce the Difference Maker for the Year, albeit digitally.

“Congratulations to all of you, and God bless you and thank you for being unselfish servants for our community, the kind who lifts others.”