Engaging Examples

Year 6-Day 294: Today, I am grateful for engaging examples.

It is crazy to think that this statement is true:

Most of us spend our entire lives avoiding the people Jesus spent His whole life engaging. -Bob Goff, Everybody Always

I have been reading Bob Goff's latest book, Everybody Always, and I actually underlined this quote. Yikes! It is painfully true, at least for me... if not for you. 

It is human nature to try and find people who are "like us". We are creatures who love comfort. We are attracted to people with similar values, opinions and viewpoints. We feel out of place when we are out of our comfort zone. We don't like it. 

I recall Denver Moore's quote from "Same Kind of Different As Me".  “You is blessin’ folks with your dollars and service, but a dollar bill and plate of food ain’t changin’ a life. That takes love.” When "good Christians" came calling on homeless people like himself, Denver had very little reason to trust he would receive anything more than a warm plate of food and some clothing. The real came change when Ron and Debbie Hall invested in his life. Not for a day, but for the long haul. Denver didn't want a "catch and release" friendship experience. He was only interested in a real, honest, genuine friendship. 

Apparently, service and servanthood are not the same thing. It isn't just the act, but who we become as we serve. To lift up another, to help patch up their wounds, to find the beauty in their scars and to love them right where they are. Not to make them like us, but to love them like Jesus. Right where they are. 

Remember the woman at the well? What about Matthew, the tax collector? The lepers, the sickly and the outcasts sought Jesus out. He did not turn them away. He met them where they were. He walked right into their messy lives and gave them help and hope. 

His taught by example. 

"Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law." Romans 13:8

Today, I am grateful for engaging examples.