True Servanthood

December 17, 2007
As Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas is nearly here my mind has been thinking a lot about giving, receiving, and all the blessings that we have. This whole thought process was stirred on by a number of things not just the holidays.
First, I started wondering about all of this around Thanksgiving because this was the first time in three years that we were able to celebrate with both families. I started wondering about those people who didn’t have the luxury of celebrating with one family let alone two. I began to wonder about how many times I had taken the blessing of my family (my wonderful wife), my parents, or even her parents for granted. I started thinking about all of the blessings that I had with this and wondering what else was in store.
A couple of days after Thanksgiving I was thinking about all of the shopping that we had done, the gifts we had purchased, and the looks that would be on the faces of those who received the gifts. I started wondering about those people who wouldn’t be receiving any gifts at all this Christmas. I thought about Leonard, the child in Zambia that our student ministry is sponsoring and wondered if he would receive anything for Christmas. I thought about the gifts that we had sent him and wondered if that would be the only Christmas that he received. I realized that as I went over the limit on gifts for my lovely wife, the thought of should I really be doing this or not? The more I thought about it the more I realized that maybe I should be doing more or giving more.
Part of this could be blamed on the holidays and it always seems that more and more people begin serving (for however short of time) during this time of year. We become consumed with the thought of giving our time, efforts, and energy to those who are less fortunate during this time of year. We hear their stories and moved by the giving sense that accompanies this time of year we give. However, many of us (myself included, many times) fail to realize that this suffering is not just something that occurs around the holidays. We fail to realize that these stories occur year round and we should respond not just simply because it’s the holidays but because we are the body of Christ.
I view part of my responsibilities at the church as the director of student ministries to be that I reach out in love and show compassion to those who are hurting all year round, not just at the holidays. I have really been thinking about how we as the body of Christ should be the same way year round and not just do the special things around the holidays. We should share the love of Christ with everyone we meet, allow them to share their stories and to share ours with them as well. I guess all of this is just simply to say that we need to be more focused on the needs of others, more often, and not just at the holidays.

December 17, 2007
Continuing from my last entry I was thinking more about the concept of giving, caring, and being a true loving Christian. This is not to say that I am above anyone else or that I have a “holier than thou” complex because I have learned to many times that when that type of mentality creeps in that we are “graciously” knocked off of our high horse and back to reality by the God we serve.
As I was pondering this whole idea and concept before I was wondering why many of us are content with simply functioning in our world and dealing with our own problems. I mean our world has enough problems and enough dirt in it so why should I venture into someone else’s? Why should I care that someone else is struggling? Why should I care that someone else doesn’t have anything to be thankful for? Why should I even try to help someone else, when my whole world seems to be crashing in around me? We wrestle with these questions far too often and that led me to reach a conclusion. I may not be able to change the world, start a revolution, or anything of that nature but what I can do is invest in the lives of those closest to me. I can share their burdens, help them through their pain, and provide a listening ear. You see God blesses us with hurting people who cross our paths every day and the choice is ours whether or not we accept and embrace it or run from it.
One such instance in my life was a man named Jeremy. You see we try to advocate service into the lives of our students with a number of events. We strive to put them in situations where they are stretched out of their comfort zones and placed in environments where they will be tested. One of those instances was a trip that we took to the Appalachian Mountains with some friends of ours from a church in Ohio. We went to West Virginia to help a new church get its feet off the ground and its name out in the community; however what we received was so much more. We went anticipating some hard work, visiting with people, and helping those in need. During our time there we met a number of individuals who were down on their luck, having difficulties in their lives, or who were homeless. We had a number of conversations that changed our outlook towards their situations greatly. One evening we were in a homeless shelter distributing some items that were needed and a young man caught my eye. His name was Jeremy and he was sitting on a bed with only the clothes on his back, a coat, and an old baseball cap. For some reason I began to feel like I should go and talk to him and when I did my world was changed.
I asked Jeremy very politely if I could sit down and talk to him to which he obliged. I sat down asking him the general questions of his name (Jeremy), his age (29) and where he was from. He began to tell me his story and my heart broke. He told me that he had just been released from a mental health institute for threatening to kill a fellow patient the day before. He had nowhere to turn so he returned to this shelter to find refuge. He told me that he struggled with alcohol and drugs for a while but he has been clean for over a year now. He told me about the fact that he was bi-polar, had a history of self-mutilating (cutting), and a number of other problems. When I asked him about his family he told me that he had four children, who were 16, 6, 5, and 5 months and they were the only thing keeping him alive. When I asked him more about his children he told me that he didn’t even know where the oldest lived and the other three were in Mississippi and he hadn’t seen them in quite a while. After talking with Jeremy a while longer, which led to me learning that he had served in the Army, I felt like he wanted more. The thought ran through my mind that he was ready to accept Christ even though up to this point of the conversation I hadn’t even shared that I worked at a church or even that I was a Christian. I very calmly looked into his eyes and asked a man who said the only emotion he knew how to express was anger, if he would mind if we prayed with him. He said that was fine, and I went and got two other members of our team to come and pray with us. One of the individuals, Bob, shared his testimony with Jeremy and without even having a Bible on us, God showed up in a marvelous way by having Jeremy accept him into his heart. After a short conversation and a little prayer a man who only expressed anger, began crying huge tears and admitting that he was changed because of his choice to follow Christ. We offered to bring him a Bible and to come and help us the next day distributing clothes to the less fortunate. He agreed to help us, so the following morning we picked him up, took him to the church, and Jeremy did a wonderful job. I watched a man be transformed by the love of Christ, through his actions, his words, and his eyes. He had an encounter with our God and my heart honestly just jumping for joy. After listening to more of his story, seeing him laugh and watching him interact with people I could just tell that the love of Christ was with him. Jeremy was a man who transformed by the love and power of my God and Savior and my prayer is that he utilizes that power wherever he goes and to tackle whatever difficulties may come his way in the future.
This story is one about a gracious, loving, merciful, and powerful God who showed up in a wonderful way and allowed his children to be a part of a life-changing story that will forever be etched on our hearts. I even told one of the students who were with us when he said that he wished he was as courageous as me that it’s not about courage but rather about obedience. When we are obedient to God, especially through our troubles and pain, He will reward us. Whenever we are faced with a difficult situation, he will give us the words to say. Whenever we see those people who are hurting and broken God will provide a way for us to minister to them if we are simply obedient to Him and the calling He gives to us.