There was a boy by the name of Steve who was
attending College in Utah. In Utah, Seminary
classes
are held as part of the curriculum. Brother
Christianson taught Seminary at this particular
school. He had an open-door
policy and would take in any student that had
been
thrown out of 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 Bro. Christianson's Seminary class.
Steve was told that he couldn't be late, so he
would
come in 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, Bro. 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 Bro.
Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can
you do?"
Steve said, "I do about 200 every
night." "200?
That's pretty good, Steve." Bro.
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
Bro. 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," Bro.
Christianson said. Steve said, "Well... I think I
can... yeah, I can do it." Bro. 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, Bro.
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
extra 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, and a little perspiration appeared around
his
brow.
Bro. Christianson started down the third row. By
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, and 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. 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 that there
were
now 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 donut?"
Linda, too choked up to talk, just shook her
head.
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.
Bro. Christianson then said, "And so it
was, that
our Savior, Jesus Christ, pleaded to the Father,
"Into thy hands I commend my spirit",
and with the
understanding that He had done everything that
was
required of Him, collapsed on the cross and died
-
even
for those that didn't want His gift."
