By Greg Laurie
From worldnetdaily.com

I’ve been reading an interesting book titled, “How to Be Like Walt,” by Pat Williams. It’s the story of how Walt Disney impacted the culture and world.

Today, we take a place like Disneyland for granted, but Disney made the place a reality against all odds.

He started in animation, constantly adapting the latest technologies to reach a wider and wider audience. And in the process, he always managed to prove his critics wrong. Bringing sound and color to animation, he literally redefined the genre, introducing the first full-length animated motion picture, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Disney moved on to live-action films, registering success after success. He then began to envision a place where families could come into a clean, safe environment and visit the world of yesterday and tomorrow. The result was Disneyland and later Disney World. 

It was said that Walt Disney had “One foot in the past and the other in the future.” He loved nostalgia, patriotism, hard work, values, and the idea of living a life of integrity and honor. He also loved to dream of what could be, and, unlike many, most of his dreams became reality.

Walt was constantly told it could not be done, and that only spurred him on. He had, according to this book, a “stick-to-it-ivity.”

There is a lot the church can learn from Disney

The odds are against us. We have our marching orders from Jesus to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” And we live in such a dark world today that we wonder if we can really make a difference.

Consider this: The church of the first century had it really hard, too. Their world in that day, as with our world today, was messed up, big time! We think conditions are bad in the 21st century (and indeed they are), but the world of the first century wasn’t a walk in the park, either. In fact, it was a most difficult time and place to bring the Gospel.

Believers in those days lived under the iron fist of the godless and powerful Roman Empire. Immorality was rampant, divorce widespread, slavery the order of the day and infanticide a regular practice. In city after city, prostitutes walked the streets and plied their trade openly.

The religious establishment of the day was corrupt to the core. Thousands of people openly practiced idolatry, spiritism and outright demon worship. Temples erected to false gods stood on seemingly every corner.

What’s more, everywhere the believers went bringing the Gospel message, they were harassed, ridiculed, physically assaulted, imprisoned, or – in some cases – put to death.

Yet within three decades, those original 120 disciples had multiplied and changed the world. They had a call to fulfill, a task to complete, and they “stuck to it.” Despite the fact that the odds were against them, the believers in the first-century church pressed on. And they succeeded magnificently.

About 200 years after the birth of the church, an early church father named Tertullian made this statement about the impact of the Gospel: “We have filled every place among you, cities, islands, fortresses, towns, marketplaces, the very camp, tribes, companies, palaces, the senate, the forum. We have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods.”

Don’t you love that? Tertullian is saying, “There is no stone that has been left unturned. There isn’t one little crevice or corner where the Gospel has not gone. We have invaded your culture.”

And as you look back, you see that the Roman Empire eventually crumbled, while the message of Christ spread across the world.

We have that same task before us today. We need that “stick-to-it-ivity” of the early church.

Walt Disney was an optimist. He loved to bring fairy tales and children’s stories to life, like “Pinocchio,” “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Mary Poppins” and many others. These stories resonate with us because, deep down inside, we all want to “live happily ever after.”

Here is the good news: Jesus Christ will one day return to earth and establish His Kingdom. It won’t be a fantasy drawn from a world of make-believe; it will be a wondrous reality, blossoming under the righteous reign of the King of Kings. Then, and only then, will we really “live happily ever after.” Until that day, however, we are to preach the Gospel and try to impact our culture.

Walt Disney left us the Magic Kingdom in Disneyland, and it has entertained millions. Walt was driven to reach his goals, but as wonderful as many of them were, they pale in comparison to what the church is called to do.

Jesus has left us with the task of preaching the gospel of His Kingdom. There is no more important thing than that. Far too often, however, we listen to the naysayers who predict failure, and don’t see how we could succeed at such a task.

Look at what Disney accomplished. Can we not do even more? He was a master of imagination, artistic skill and technology, but we represent a supernatural Kingdom with the potential to transform millions of human lives for all eternity.

Yes, the odds are against us, but remember that God is for us! And if God is for us, who can be against us?