You Are a Letter From Christ

July 4, 2008

By Scott McChrystal

“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody” (2 Corinthians 3:2, NIV).

I received news that 1st Lt. Tim Cunningham died in Iraq on April 23. He was serving with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky. The death of this 26-year-old infantry officer from Texas has left my family and me stunned. In the three years we knew him at West Point, he had a profound impact on the McChrystal family, on the staff and faculty, and on hundreds of fellow cadets.

Tim entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in the summer of 2002, just one month after his older brother, John David, had graduated from the same institution. I met Tim during Cadet Basic Training and quickly saw him to be a caring young man. He taught children’s Sunday School all four years at West Point. During two of those years, one of his students was our youngest son, Josh. Josh is now a cadet at West Point and fondly remembers the genuine interest Tim showed in him. Tim not only taught Josh about Jesus, he also modeled the Christian life in a quiet and credible fashion. Josh had e-mailed back and forth with Tim only days before Tim’s death.

Pastor Alfred Perry of First Baptist Church in Rosharon, Texas, where Tim’s father is music minister, said, “He was the type of young man that makes you proud to be an American.” I couldn’t agree more.

Cynthia Lindenmeyer, a chaplain at West Point during Tim’s cadet years, called to tell me she would be presiding at Tim’s funeral. She also told me something else. On the day following Tim’s death, she received a birthday card from him. Tim was like that right up until the day he died.

Tim was a letter from Christ, known and read by everybody. I believe the same is true about every follower of Christ.

— Chaplain Col. (Ret.) Scott McChrystal serves as the military/VA representative for the Chaplaincy Department of the Assemblies of God.