I don't usually blog mutliple times in one day, but I'm going to make an exception today.
I was privileged to be part of something truly incredible today. It probably shouldn't be incredible, it should be normal, but it is not. Either way, it was absolutely one of the greatest examples I have seen of the compassion of Christ in action.
An email went out this morning stating that a man was going to shovel driveways in the neighborhood where I live. He gave a time and a corner to start. At 5 pm there was about ten guys standing on that corner. We started down the street, talking and cutting up, just being real. As we shoveled driveways, more began to join us. For the next couple of hours, our ranks grew and shrunk as we walked through the neighborhood street to street clearing driveways and walkways of those who could not or should not do so on their own. No one sought credit. No money was exchanged. No requirements. No one asked us to do it. No pretenses. We didn't even knock on the door, we just started shoveling. We didn't ask for anything or push anything. We just shoveled. Just people being neighborly. Love in action.
Here's the thing: not all the guys are necessarily church goers, much less Christ followers. These guys were motivated by "niceness" and being neighborly, not by the Bible. It was a live sermon. It was truth. It was awesome. Oh that church goers would do this kind of thing more often. Oh that church goers would give and share God's love and not express their opinions and make judgments. Oh that Christians would live the Gospel and not worry about convincing others they are right.
Dino Rizzo calls it "Servolution." (click here for more)
Today I saw Christ in action. Hopefully, we will see a whole lot more of that coming from the church.
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We see this kind of love in action every year in my neighborhood. In fact,i can't remember shoveling our snow all by ourselves, ever. There are always good neighbors just doing it for us never expecting anything in return. I love that about the unchurched. It's the churched that needs instruction as to how to be nice to your neighbor. What does that show about us?.......If we can all just show up when we see a need and do the best we can to fill that need, we would have done our part. No prayer time needed for any type of revelation. Just a little compassion and a whole lot of willingness to put others first.
ReplyDeletePastor Shane, I had a similar kind of experience yesterday ... Joe is out of town, Staci hadn't yet arrived home from Ministers Retreat, and I'm sick at home with bronchitis. I'd been really concerned about the amount of snow in our driveway, knowing there way no way I could go outside to do any shoveling.
ReplyDeleteLater on in the day I heard our neighbor outside using his snowblower on his driveway. I peeked out through the blinds, wishing that somehow he would come over and use it on ours. A few minutes later, I looked again and saw that the daughter Josie had come over and was snowblowing our driveway!! I just started crying ...
Let's hear it for neighborly neighbors!! It's sure made me look at the whole "love thy neighbor" scenario in a different light! I am very thankful ...
I have a one-track mind. Sometimes it gets me into trouble, but it's a good track: evangelism.
ReplyDeleteHere is my beef. The common worldview concerning evangelism running through churches is summed up by a St. Francis of Asisi quote in which he says something to the effect of "share the gospel always, and if needed, use words."
The worldview our "American" brand of Christianity has been embracing has said essentially this: I want to share my faith. I will do so with my life and my actions. People will see the difference in me and wonder about Christ and then I will talk to them. "Shine, make em wonder what you got, make em wish that they were not, on the outside looking in..."
Here's my beef. Finally I get to the point. Our Christian lives don't look that much different than anyone else. These neighbors of yours Shane, quite frankly, probably put me to shame in terms of what the world would consider "good deeds". What a ridiculously arrogant thing it is to say someone will see Christ by seeing my life! Sure, they will perhaps see glimpses. Sure they will see differences in the distressful situations, but more than not, they will simply see a "nice guy".
Speak! We need to live, yes. We need to be the best examples we can, sure. But use words! I'd love it if we could stop hiding behind our fears of being rejcted or mocked or scoffed at, and claiming we are reaching out to people with our lives. Serve rigorously. Let your life shine. But proclaim the gospel!
J V is right in her post above. Non-christians often crush believers in terms of "worldly" good, or help. Where they fail is in their trusting these "good deeds" to make them right with God, or at least with their neighbors. We have the news above all news, that the Light of the World has broken into history and proclaimed freedom for these neighbors! He has declared peace and holiness to all who will put their faith in Him. Let us live that yes, but live it with WORDS equal to the task.
Or you could be like me: ashamed. We who tout our faith, and live next to an elderly couple who continually swear at us, yell at our kids, and call us Bible thumpers. We who have tried, but not hard enough, to bring peace between us and them. And we who, after the last big snow, found him, the NEIGHBOR MAN, snowblowing our drive. Shamed
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