Now Reading
Remembering Brett McLean

Remembering Brett McLean

I was excited to share with you all this week the joy of marrying Medina this two week ago. With 190 friends and family, he had a beautiful gathering of everyone who loves us, a celebration to the audacity to love, and the perfect demonstration of our love to one another. But that post will have to wait.

Tuesday morning when I signed onto Facebook, I saw my newsfeed was flooded with updates and posts to or about Brett McLean, who I went to high school with. Known for his shenanigans, I thought perhaps he posted another funny video with a Justin Beiber cutout, or maybe he too got married. As I began skimming through the posts, my heart sank through the floor of my chest. Brett had died.

Now I didn’t know Brett well. In a high school of 180 students, he was a grade below me. We only had a few classes together, and didn’t typically hang out with the same friends. We likely knew each other for the endless shanagans we both pulled at school (especially pissing off the choir teacher, which he had a special skill for). Yet in such a small school everyone knows each other better than you’d expect, and Brett and I served on student council together, and we also attended the same youth group for about a year or so. Even so, he was such a character of exploding energy, everyone knew Brett. In the handful of conversations we had, I saw a funny, outgoing, passionate, and devoted man.

What happened? I asked myself as I continued reading with increasing intensity. Brett has always had a heart for Jesus, and was an avid outdoorsman. This made church summer camp pretty much the coolest thing in the world to him. Since graduating high school, he’s continued going as a camp counselor. On Monday, they had a group of kids out at the White River Falls, in central Oregon, a few hours from where we’re from. One high school-aged camper slipped into water at the base of the falls when trying to take a picture, and Brett dove in after to rescue him. Neither were seen again.

Brett didn’t have to die to be a hero, he already was one. Many people, both younger and older, have looked up to him, whether in awe of his ridiculous and outragous antics, inspired by his religious passion, or general willingness to see everyone as equally valuable in God’s eyes, and therefore his own. Brett wasn’t just a nice guy, but he was both accepting of all, and giving to any. On Facebook, one person shared a story that captures Brett in his most core ethos. On a mission trip from Mexico, a stranger came up to Brett, and asked Brett for his hat, not knowing that it was one of his favorites. Still, without hesitation, Brett took off his hat and gave it to him.

I think it’s time we take off our hats to him. My heart goes out to his family, and thank you Brett for reminding me what it means to truly live like Jesus, even when it costs you dearly.

Last saturday at our wedding, when at midnight it became time to stop dance and start cleaning up, a few friends shared some improv poetry and impromptu speeches. Nelson, a groomsmen and my good friend, can always be counted on for a profilic speech when copious amounts of alcohol are involved. But this time he didn’t wax poetic about Carthage or the Ides of March. Instead, he simply shared this simple phrase, “We love you for what you believe in, and we believe in your for what you love.”

I believe we can all echo that mantra for Brett.

John 15:13 – “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

View Comments (0)

Leave a Reply

© 2023 RELEVANT Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Scroll To Top

You’re reading our ad-supported experience

For our premium ad-free experience, including exclusive podcasts, issues and more, subscribe to

Plans start as low as $2.50/mo