“No, you can’t be!” I watched his eyes flash back to my cursing his mom and his chasing after me on my bike.
“I really am a Christian! And Pam’s here, and she’d like to see you.”
That changed the conversation. Larry came out, hugged Pam and they talked and said they had to get together since they were both in L.A. I’m not sure they ever did. I’m not sure Larry ever reallybelieved my spiritual state.
Six years later, I was working for 2100, the multimedia ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. We were producing a large scale widescreen media production based on Habakkuk in the Old Testament. We wanted an original musical score. As we surveyed the current landscape of artists who could possibly write and perform such a score, our list was short. Actually, at that time, there were only two on the list. We had met with Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary the previous year after a concert he did in L.A. He was open to it. Larry was the other.
After performing at the U. of Wisconsin, we invited Larry to lunch and a meeting at our studio in Madison. I apparently convinced him that I was a follower of Jesus. He was intrigued by the show and asked us to keep in touch. I asked Larry if he kept up with any classmates from Campbell High. His eyes brightened as he told me about attending his 10-year reunion. “It was great! I got to share Jesus with so many people.”
When it came time for my own 10-year reunion, I was pumped. My own conversion had come six months before graduating. Many of my friends weren’t aware I had become a Christian as my behavior hadn’t changed much. I envisioned my reunion being like Larry’s. Unfortunately, it was nothing like Larry’s. My old friends gave me the cold shoulder. I think after listening to Larry, I was expecting them to come sit at my feet while I told them about Jesus. Oh, well.
That was the last time I saw Larry. I kept up with his career from his distance. I bought all of his albums. I heard how he was mentoring young musicians like Randy Stonehill and Steve Camp.
When I got word this morning from an old friend (and Larry fan) that Larry died yesterday, it saddened me. I went on his website to read about his final days. To the end, he was faithful to Jesus. Then I was gladdened. He is no longer weighed down with physical ailments that had plagued him for decades.
It also gladdened me because I realized in one specific way, Larry was a trailblazer and role model for me. Larry fought all kinds of obstacles —sadly, more from fellow believers than those outside the family of faith—to live out his calling. He walked a lonely road and in so doing, blazed a trail for many, including me. The path I chose to follow Jesus was not acceptable within my family. It has been lonely to walk it alone in my family. Having role models who courageously lived out their faith helped me to do the same.
Larry, thank you for remaining true. Thank you for blazing a lonely trail that benefited so many of us. It couldn’t have been easy being out there out front all alone. Thank you for submitting your enormous gifts to the Lord. Clearly, you could have been a huge secular talent but you took Jesus seriously when he said, “Whoever loses their life for me and the gospel will save it.”
And yes, I am a Christian. Thanks, in part to you, I know he’s the rock that doesn’t roll.
Paul Tokunaga
Asian American Ministries Coordinator & Associate Dean of Leadership Development
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA