Lessons From Larry Wright
Following the sudden death of his spiritual mentor Larry Wright, Tom Shrader shares eight lessons Larry's life embodied, including the necessity of genuine conversion, the hard work of spiritual growth, and the refining purpose of suffering and trials. Drawing from Philippians 3, James 1, and other passages, Tom grounds each lesson in Scripture while illustrating it through decades of close friendship and observation. He closes with a personal reflection on how Larry's death made heaven more real and deepened his own desire to know and please God.
“I would rather suffer obediently than prosper disobediently, because I know my obedient suffering is as temporary as my disobedient prospering.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Standalone Teachings
Recorded: 2001 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 45 min
Themes: grief, mentorship, suffering, spiritual growth, conversion, heaven, trials, legacy, grieving a loved one, losing a mentor, new believer, pastor, midlife reflection, struggling with loss, mentor, long-time church member
Scripture: Philippians 3:12-14, Philippians 1:23, James 1:2-5, 1 Corinthians 9:26-27, Ephesians 6, Genesis 5:22, Hebrews 11:5, John 14:15, John 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:7
Theological Themes: sanctification, becoming holy, soteriology, genuine conversion, perseverance, theodicy, purpose of suffering, spiritual formation
Full Transcript
Losing Larry
It was last Sunday morning. I was sitting in my seat at the 11 o'clock service, and we had just begun worshiping when somebody came in and handed me a note that Larry Wright had had a heart attack. We finished the service, and it was difficult. You were very gracious to allow me to struggle through that. By the time I got to the office, I had received a call that he had died. Larry died last Sunday morning.
For some of you, unless you really knew the church, you've never even heard of Larry. If you've been around for a while, you know him and you know him well. Rarely did we not mention Larry in the course of a service. He has had a profound impact on your life, whether you know it or not. His fingerprints are all over me, and therefore they're all over this church, and all over you, I hope.
This week I received dozens and dozens of cards and emails and phone calls from you. I want to thank you so much. It was a physical presence of your love for me, and it meant a great deal to Susan and the girls and to me.
Introducing Larry
I want to introduce you to Larry, and I thought about different ways to do it. Some of you know him; others don't. I thought the best way was to take a look at the last time he was in a service with us, which was my 50th birthday. Susan asked what I wanted for my birthday, and I said I would love to have Larry come and teach.
At that time, Larry was really hurting in his knees. Subsequent to this, he had some knee replacements and was actually moving around pretty well. In fact, he came after that and did the men's retreat and was showing off how he could get up and down the steps — though he caught himself before he fell.
What follows is just the five minutes of me introducing him at that birthday service. All you're going to get out of this is the depth of the impact he had on me and a glimpse into who he was and how he thought.
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*[Video plays — Tom introducing Larry at the 50th birthday service]*
It was in March of 1980 that I walked into the Phoenix Country Club and heard Larry teach for the very first time. It was that morning that God used to really begin a work in my heart, and I became a Christian six days later. That started, obviously, a journey for me that's been almost 20 years now, and Susan and the girls have been such an obvious part of that. But humanly speaking, apart from family, there's no person that God has used more in my life than Larry.
You can take all your teachers and stack them end on end, and then you put Larry on the top. He is the crowning jewel of it all. Larry has taught me so much about life — really two major things: that the Word of God is our final authority in our life, and that once we understand what it says, we simply do it. We do what's right because it's right, and God is responsible for the results. No one has not just taught me but lived that more plainly in front of me than Larry. I've watched him suffer physically, and he doesn't complain. He understands that God is using that in a powerful way.
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*[Video continues — Larry responding]*
Thanks, Tom. And now that you're 50, you might want to think about giving up the saddle shoes. Just a thought.
Years ago, I was at a church in this area and was asked to speak in the Sunday evening service. There was a pastor there — had to be about 97 or so, been there forever. I said, "Sir, when do you want me to quit?" He said, "Son, quit when you're through. We have a lot of speakers come in here, and when they're through, they keep on talking. Go until you're through, and then quit."
The first time I ever saw Tom, he caught my eye. We were doing a Bible study for unchurched people at the Phoenix Country Club. Some missionaries like to go to Africa, Uganda. I like to go to the country club — it's about as rough as I really want to get. I remember seeing him walk in. The picture is still very clear to me, because he walked in like he owned the place, like he'd been there 40,000 times before. He sat down, crossed his arms, and leaned back as if to say, "Okay, let's see what you've got. Give it your best shot." But after he gave his life to Christ, he and I spent an awful lot of time together, and to see him grow was one of the most exciting things in my life. He grew more rapidly than anybody I had been in contact with.
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A Friendship Built on Laughter and Theology
That video gives you a flavor of the relationship, and it was a joy. We had an awful lot of fun together. There were not many people who could make me laugh as hard. I had heard every story a hundred times, and I was able to set them up, and Larry would tell the story with the same vigor, and I would laugh just as hard as I did the first time.
We spent a great deal of time together and talked about everything — sports, movies, books, all sorts of different things — but ultimately theology. And for Larry, everything had to be practical.
True Conversion Means a Transformed Life
Larry was a theologian, to be sure, but to him it wasn't academic. It was: this is what it says, now let's know what it means, and now what are you going to do with it? What is it going to do in your life? So many of you this week have asked about him, and I thought I'd take about 25 minutes and share some life lessons from Larry. There are only eight. I could have done 208 or 408, but these give you a sense of some of the things he taught me.
I didn't really realize until this week, in preparing for Friday's memorial service, just how deep and profound our relationship was. I knew it was profound, but I didn't understand the depth of it and how he permeates so much of who I am — how I think, my philosophy of what we do and how we do it. I caught it that way this week.
Here is the first lesson: true conversion means a transformed life. That was certainly Larry's story. That was the story of my life. I think it's the story of every life. If your conversion is not substantially the same as Paul's — that radical — then you haven't been converted at all. I say that and people get upset, but I understand the circumstances are different. I'm talking about the substantial truth that takes place: this is what you were, and now this is what you are.
We meet so many people here and in the PL studies who say, "I asked Jesus into my heart when I was five," or "I went to a summer camp and made a profession of faith, but nothing happened for 20 or 30 years." I don't buy that. You were never converted. Because if you are converted, life will change. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you keep My commandments" — not out of drudgery, not out of obligation, but out of love.
If you love, it moves you to action. If you love, you want to do. Consider: "For God so loved the world that He gave." He loved, He gave. If you so love God, then you want to do what He says. That's how it all comes together.
Walking With God and Pleasing Him
I've been thinking, in my early stages of planning ahead, that after 1 Corinthians — since we've had a lot of Paul and we're going to have more — I might take a short break and do Hebrews chapter 11, the Hall of Fame of Faith. That would give us a chance to look at all of these giants of the faith and bring us back into some Old Testament material.
The second person mentioned in that chapter is a man named Enoch — a man who never died, because God simply took him home. We know basically two things about Enoch. Genesis 5:22 tells us he walked with God. Hebrews 11:5 tells us he pleased God. That's all we know about him: he walked with God, and he pleased God.
Not because it's fresh on my mind, but because I would think this at any time — that is a perfect description of Larry. I've said it with him in the room, and it was a source of embarrassment for him. This whole conversation would embarrass him, and he wouldn't like it. But that's all right. He is the godliest man I know. I know a lot of men — a lot of great men, a lot of big-time talk — but Larry is the godliest man I know, and I'll tell you why.
He walked with God. He wanted to know God. He wanted to know what this book said, not so he could dazzle you with what he knew, but because when he knew what it said, he knew the God who wrote it. That's what he wanted — to know who God is. And the way you come to know who God is, is by knowing His book, knowing what He wrote. Then all Larry wanted to do was please Him. I know he wasn't perfect, but I'm telling you, when you got to the core of him, that's what he wanted: to please God.
Spiritual Growth Is Work
Here is the second thing I learned from Larry: spiritual growth is work. I do not believe Christianity is very complicated. I don't think it's that tough to figure out — it's pretty simple, really. But it is hard to execute. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6 that we are in a battle.
In Philippians chapter 3, Paul writes about the supremacy of knowing Christ — that to know Christ is beyond everything else. Then he says this in Philippians 3:12: "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward."
Notice three key phrases: press on, lay hold, and reach forward. All three carry the idea of straining. The image in verse 13 of reaching toward is the picture of a runner breaking the tape — striving with everything he has. You've seen it especially in sprints, where a fraction of a second determines the winner, where someone might even dive at the finish line. That's what Paul has in mind: I strive.
A couple of verses we looked at several months ago reinforce this. 1 Corinthians 9:26-27: "Therefore I run in such a way as not without aim; I box in such a way as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." The Christian life is simple, not complicated, but it is hard.
I watched Larry grow. I knew him 20 years, and I watched him grow. I'm sure I could be accused of wearing rose-colored glasses when I looked at him, but I don't believe I was. When I first met him —
Larry Wright: The Man Behind the Microphone
Some of you know this and some of you don't, but Larry's background was as the rock and roll disc jockey in the valley. He was the guy. Crux Radio, Lucky Lawrence. Somebody sent me the nicest email the other day — I just got it this morning. He really is, right now in heaven, Lucky Lawrence. He owned the marketplace and he was the guy.
With that, inevitably, anytime you're good at anything comes some sort of recognition, and so you're always going to struggle a little bit with pride and ego. I watched that in his life. I watched him — not master it, because I think you never master that — but I watched him get control of it. And I watched him change.
When we first met, he described himself as a non-believer, as the most selfish person on the face of the earth. And he has stories that may at least put him in the contest. When I first became a Christian and we started hanging out together, it was hard. There would be times when there were so many people and he didn't always have time. But something happened to him. He became very tender and compassionate, and you only had to be around him a short time to see it.
I'll tell you what he had no patience for. He had no patience for somebody who wouldn't act on counsel. If you met with him and said, "Listen, I've got a problem," and he'd say, "Well, here's the answer — do this," and then you'd meet a week later and say, "I've still got a problem," and he'd ask, "Did you do what I said?" and you'd say no — that frustrated him enormously. But I've sat in a booth at a restaurant and told him about somebody he didn't even know who was in the process of leaving his wife, and I would watch Larry weep. God did that work in his life. He grew him. As Larry walked with God and wanted to please Him, all of a sudden he understood how much sin broke God's heart.
The Third Truth: Trials and Suffering Are for Our Benefit
Here is a third thing: trials and suffering are for our benefit. I've worn out James chapter 1, verses 2 through 5. "Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." You have your faith, you add trials to it, and now you have endurance. How do I get strong? How do I get mature? I have trials. I have challenges. They may be physical, emotional, or circumstantial — at work, a job loss, the loss of a loved one, or a spouse who says goodbye.
I don't know what your trial looks like, but I know this: your faith left untested leaves you a spiritual midget. If you say you want to grow, you want to get big, you want to be strong, you want to be Herculean in your faith, then you have to suffer. What happens in suffering is that all of a sudden you get focus.
This is fresh in my mind because I just went to the eye doctor. You know how they do it — "What's better, this or this? This or this?" I take that very seriously when I go. It drives Dr. Pearson nuts, but I take it very seriously, to the point where he has to do it again and again. Finally he just said, "Tom, it's not that important." I said, "Well, then why are we doing it? We better do it right." Here is what suffering does: suffering asks, "What's better, this or this?" Suffering runs the test, and you get a new pair of glasses, and you see things differently.
I was driving along one day and happened to have one of Larry's tapes, and I was listening to it. Here is a statement he made. He said, "I would rather suffer obediently than prosper disobediently, because I know my obedient suffering is as temporary as my disobedient prospering." Men and women, that is maturity.
Here is what he is saying. Nobody, given a simple choice between prosper and suffer, picks suffer — put me down for prosper. But we add a couple of words: suffer obediently, prosper disobediently. Some of you would take that disobedient prospering, wouldn't you? Not Larry. Because he got the secret. The secret is in the last part of that statement: this is all temporary. This is all passing away. You are working hard tomorrow to get a bunch of stuff that is never going to last. It was Martin Luther who said, "I have held many things in my hand, and I have lost all of them. But whatever I have placed in God's hands, I still possess." Larry got that.
So I come back to this: trials and suffering are for our benefit. It is not that God is some sort of cosmic killjoy, or that He wants to inflict pain on you needlessly. That is not it at all. He loves you, and He knows. We should not be surprised by that. Isn't that what Peter writes? Don't be surprised by fiery ordeals. Why? Because the testing of our faith produces endurance. You are not going to grow unless you are tested.
The Fourth Truth: Hardship Reveals Reality
Right alongside that is the fourth truth: hardship reveals reality. When things are tough, you understand what is real. I will draw on many illustrations from Larry's life, but here is one.
Larry had his arthritis, but a few years ago cancer invaded his neck. We could see it literally growing — you could see his neck grow from week to week. He went to the doctor, who knew something was seriously wrong. It was a Wednesday morning. I was in Tucson. They went in for surgery at St. Joe's, and when I came back they told me it was cancer. They had to go in and remove sections from his neck.
I had a chance to go in right as he came out of anesthesia. Now, anesthesia is like truth serum. Whatever you say then is the truth — there is no manufacturing a moment, no crafting an impression. I walked in and looked at Larry and said, "How are you doing?" He stirred, and then he said this — and he could barely speak — "God's grace is sufficient." You cannot fake that.
I have told Susan, and I mean it: if I ever have surgery, I want no one in the room when I come out of anesthesia. And I mean that.
Boundaries Expand Your Ministry
This fifth lesson may look odd to you: boundaries expand your ministry. We tend to think of boundaries as things that limit us, but I suggest that in Larry's life, his limitations and his boundaries actually expanded his ministry. I always wondered how this man, who had a fraction of the strength and a fraction of the endurance of most of us, could accomplish so much more than we do. I told Larry, after thinking it through on my end, that I believe one of the great blessings God gave him was that arthritis, that cancer, and that pain — although I understand how excruciating it was for him personally — in many senses, and in this one in particular, it took away other options.
Larry never had to wrestle with whether to go play a six-hour round of golf. He got so much done with so much less energy because all of that energy was focused on one thing: teaching the Bible. There weren't a lot of distractions.
The same thing is true in your life. That is why we talk about this so often — the things of this world. Consider Demas. His name appears three times in the New Testament. He hung out with Paul, walked with the apostle, and watched the apostle Paul teach. And yet, at the end of Paul's life, Paul writes to Timothy and says, "Come quickly to me. Only Luke is with me. Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me." Demas is gone. What more did he need to see? He was seeing the apostle Paul. But the stuff of this world pulls us away. Once we understand those boundaries and those limits, we are free to move within them, and with focused energy directed in one area, that ministry expands.
Be Content
The sixth lesson is this: be content. Materially, that is obvious. But again, I saw it in Larry's life. One of the things that impressed me so deeply is that Larry was converted when he was at the top of his profession — and he walked away from that profession not when he was struggling, but when he was at the very top of his game.
But be content not only materially. Be content with the gifts that you have. One of the things that helped me so much about Larry is that he had no formal training. He did not go to seminary, did not go to Bible college. And while there was probably some feeling in his heart that perhaps he needed those things, he never allowed those inadequacies to stop him from teaching in any way.
This is encouraging to me. We never have a getting-plugged-in class, but when we get to the last session — where it is just me with the people and it is Q&A — virtually every time someone will ask, "Where did you go to seminary?" I tell them I did not go to seminary. "Well, where did you go to Bible college?" There was a lot going on in the seventies that I did not want to miss by going to Bible college. I am probably too unaware to be embarrassed by that. I know it is a shortcoming, and I strive to grow, and we encourage our staff, but Larry helped me to say: you are okay.
Larry's Poem on Knowledge and Living
Larry wrote a poem about this. I love Larry's poetry because I get it. I do not get any other poetry, but I understand all of Larry's imagery because he just lays it out plainly. Here it is:
*Not knowing does not cause me anguish, although there's much I don't know.*
*The greatest frustration that I have to face is the knowledge my life doesn't show.*
*I know that my days here are numbered. This plight is not cause to be sad.*
*My soul will be happy should my headstone read, he lived up to the knowledge he had.*
There is the issue. I became a Christian, and I am not a scholar. I am not a natural student. I did not enjoy reading. None of that. But when I became a Christian, all of that changed. I just started reading. I just started studying. I am still not a scholar, but I grew — at least in knowledge — very quickly, and in application as well. And this is the absolute truth: if Larry said to do it, I did it. I did everything Larry told me to do. If he said go stand over there in the corner, I went and stood in the corner. If he said read this book, I read it. Whatever he told me to do, I did it, and consequently I began to grow.
The First Time Teaching
One day I decided to be bold enough to tell him that I wanted to do what he did. He had been gently encouraging that, and finally the day came when I said, "I want to do what you do. I want to teach." He said, "Okay, I think that is good. We need to find you a place to teach." I did not know what I was imagining, but what he had in mind was something different. He said, "You will substitute for me at the country club."
That was not a comfortable assignment. Those people were not there to see me. Church is an easier setting because people feel some obligation to attend. At the country club, there is no such feeling. So when people saw me show up the first couple of times with just my Bible, they all smiled. When I showed up with my Bible and a folder, they frowned — they looked the way a child looks when someone has licked all the red off their sucker.
On my third or fourth time in, you could see the disappointment on their faces, and my stomach was absolutely in a knot. There is no delicate way to say this — I had to use the restroom. So I went in, and while I was in there, two men came in. As they were walking in, one of them said, "I am so excited to be here today. It is my first time. I cannot wait to hear Larry." The other one said, "Well, Larry is not here." The conversation continued: "Well, who is teaching?" "I do not know his name." "Have you heard him?" "Yeah." "What is he like?" "Well, he is short and kind of heavy and thinks he is really funny." I absolutely froze. I just sat there. There was nothing in the world that was going to get me out of that room.
Finishing the Race
One of the great things for me about teaching behind Larry was that I knew right away I wasn't going to measure up to everybody else's expectation, so I didn't have to be Larry. I didn't even play that game, because I had already lost that comparison. So you learn contentment.
Larry taught me to finish strong. How perfect it is — though it wouldn't have been what I wanted — how perfect it is that his last moments were spent preparing to go and preach the Word. Paul said, "I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith." That's Larry right to the very end.
The Ripple Effect of a Faithful Life
At the memorial service, there was a gentleman sitting in front of us named Dr. John Mitchell. Most of you have probably never heard of him. When Sue Wright became a Christian, she went to Bethany Bible Church — that's where Larry went — and when we were converted, we went there because Larry was there, and ultimately to that church because Dr. Mitchell was there.
He looked so frail the other day. But let me tell you something about Dr. Mitchell: Scottsdale Bible Church, Camelback Bible Church, Desert Springs Bible Church, Trinity Bible Church, and others all came out of him. That's pretty amazing. Every person who came up — and I mean dozens of them — said, "You probably don't remember me, Dr. Mitchell, but you baptized me." This man had a profound effect.
As I was sitting there, I was thinking: he had a profound effect, but God's not done with him yet. How do you know that? Because he's not dead.
Time Will Tell
We get a lot of people who come into the studies, and they get a boatload of books and start going, humming along, planning to turn their family around right now. Then all of a sudden, it just stops. I remember standing next to Larry one day when a man came up and said, "Here's what's happened — I've given my life to Jesus, and I've read this and this." Larry said, "That's terrific. I'm really happy for you." The man walked away, and I said, "That's pretty neat." Larry said, "We'll see."
I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Time. Time will tell us, Tom, whether it's real." And that time extends all the way to the end. Pick up this Book and start looking for words like "retire" or "take it easy." They're not there.
Keep Your Account Short and Be Ready
Here's the last thing: keep your account short and be ready. You could tell from the film that Larry's health was always suspect, so I never thought Larry would live forever. That was never an issue for me. I just didn't think he'd go that fast. I always figured there'd be one more conversation, one more time to say things.
I am so happy that we didn't leave anything unsaid. There was nothing left to say. I just wanted to say it all again. I wanted to hear him say it again. Do you live that way? Larry really did live that way — short accounts, ready to go.
Departed to Be With Christ
Larry died. Paul gives us a great definition of death in Philippians 1:23. He said, "I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ." There's Larry. Larry is dead. He has departed to be with Christ.
At the end of his life, D. L. Moody was ill, and here's what he wrote: "Soon you will read in the newspapers that I am dead. Don't believe it for a moment. I'll be more alive than ever before." That's the truth.
Heaven Becomes More Real
I'm going to take just a moment and be autobiographical and a little transparent. Maybe it was turning 50, but in the last year or year and a half, I've been thinking a lot about how temporary this life is and what's really important. Mike Senior's death a few months ago did that again. But I have never had anyone in my life that I'm this close to die. Never. Larry is my spiritual father. I am an orphan, spiritually, and I hurt very, very much, and I am very, very sad.
But something has happened in the last week. Heaven seems more real. I know I can't say this right, and I know it will be inadequate, but I hope you'll get the point. My desire to be with my Lord — I know that should be the driving force, and I pray it is — but last Sunday, heaven became a little more desirable for me. I want it a little more.
I know I have things to do here, and we have things there, but everything is just a little looser. This has been a very different week — difficult, yes, but very different. I find myself praying more, studying more, reading more. I desperately pray this doesn't change.
The Greatest Lesson
I desperately want to be a loving, nurturing shepherd to you. It's remarkable to me that Larry taught me so many lessons, but maybe in his death he taught me the greatest one — he just took heaven to a new depth. More and more, heaven will be populated with people that we know, which adds to that whole idea that when you get there, it truly is like home.
I really pray that in my life I take these things to heart, and that my life is transformed and changed. That's my prayer.
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*Father, thank You. Thank You for the truth of Your Word. Father, thank You for Your Son, Jesus. We love Him. We care for Him. Thank You for men like Larry.*
A Closing Prayer for the Body
Every person in this room has someone like Larry in their life. God, let us cherish those relationships. Let us understand how important they are.
Lord, I pray that as a result of Larry's life and his death, not just I, but we as a body would be a loving, caring place — firm in the Word, non-negotiable there, no compromise there. God, we would be a people who want to know You, walk with You, and please You. And that means loving and serving each other.
God, we ask Your Spirit to do that work in our hearts. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Have a great week — we'll see you next week. Amen.