Reason #684
Tonight was our monthly visit to the soup kitchen. For the past six months, we have gone one Sunday a month to serve at a local soup kitchen with our Sunday school class. Truth be told, this is the longest volunteer commitment I've ever had. I usually volunteer for one time events, or simply just do things once, and so this has been a long standing commitment for me. Aaron and I really wanted service to be a part of our marriage, and for it to be something we do on a regular basis, so Fiesta Domingo was the perfect answer. After all, giving up an hour and half each month really isn't all that much time. I don't know why it has taken me so long to figure that out and actually do it, but I suppose there's never a better time that the present to get involved. Anyway, there was a big crowd tonight.
If you know me, you may know that I struggle with sympathy and can cast judgment as well as the next guy. Two things I'm not proud of. I am a pro-active person, and so I think that a little effort goes a long way. I have a hard time sympathizing with people when I can clearly tell them how to make life better for themselves and fix their problems. Obviously, this isn't an attractive quality to have as no one really appreciates that kind of advice. And the truth is, we all do that to an extent, don't we? We all have an outsiders view on how to fix someone else's problems, yet telling them what to do is often ineffective. Because until someone comes to the realization on their own and actually makes the decision to change, they aren't going to do it no matter what you say to them. And so I find myself becoming cynical simply because I don't understand.
I've really had to go through a humbling lesson over judging and I'm still learning. And I so often wonder what it is that makes us judge people. A lot of times I hear that judgment comes from insecurities, and I can see that conclusion is drawn. But if you ask me, I think judgment comes from a lack of understanding and differences. I think we judge because we don't really know. We judge because it's so different from anything we've ever experienced and so, somehow, in our minds we try to figure it out. We judge because maybe, one time, we saw something that turned us off and so we project that situation on anything that seems similar. But most of all, I think we judge because we think we have it all figured out.
After we left the soup kitchen tonight, I began to share some of my experiences of the evening with Aaron. I told him about how certain people behaved, what they said, what kind of attitude they had, and I really wasn't being very positive. I vented about how I just don't understand their actions and choices. I told him how I thought people should act and respond based off of what I think is right and acceptable, and I told him how I thought a majority of the people we served tonight could change their lives, fix their problems, and do better for themselves. After listening to me spill my great and wonderful wisdom (insert sarcasm), Aaron said, "You know, when Jesus healed people He would just said, "Go, you're now healed." He never said, You're now healed, go get a job."
He made a perfect point. Jesus came to serve people. He didn't go around giving unsolicited advice to people and telling them how to clean up their lives. He wasn't speaking to the crowds about how to achieve a better life for themselves. Jesus came to serve and meet the needs of people and to do it in love. And once a month, when we go serve at the soup kitchen, that's what we're called to do. We're called to serve and meet their needs in love. Not tell them what they should be doing differently, not judging them based on their comments or attitudes, but to simply serve them. Because when needs are met, when healing has taken place, changes are made. Until then, it's pointless. Jesus knew people's lives weren't going to change for the better before He healed them. Yet after they healed, He knew He sent them away different than when they came. And He did the same for you and for me, too.
It's not up to us to decide how and when people change their lives. We aren't here to determine how to fix their problems and get them on the path to success. We are here to serve them. To lead them to the Healer so that He can change their lives. To point them to Jesus so that they, too, can be eternally changed.
We all come hungry at one point or another, but our purpose is to feed their growing stomachs as we lead them to the bread of life so that they may taste of His goodness and never hunger again.
#684 - Because He heals us and feeds us so that we are never hungry again!
"Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing." - Psalm 34:8-10
If you know me, you may know that I struggle with sympathy and can cast judgment as well as the next guy. Two things I'm not proud of. I am a pro-active person, and so I think that a little effort goes a long way. I have a hard time sympathizing with people when I can clearly tell them how to make life better for themselves and fix their problems. Obviously, this isn't an attractive quality to have as no one really appreciates that kind of advice. And the truth is, we all do that to an extent, don't we? We all have an outsiders view on how to fix someone else's problems, yet telling them what to do is often ineffective. Because until someone comes to the realization on their own and actually makes the decision to change, they aren't going to do it no matter what you say to them. And so I find myself becoming cynical simply because I don't understand.
I've really had to go through a humbling lesson over judging and I'm still learning. And I so often wonder what it is that makes us judge people. A lot of times I hear that judgment comes from insecurities, and I can see that conclusion is drawn. But if you ask me, I think judgment comes from a lack of understanding and differences. I think we judge because we don't really know. We judge because it's so different from anything we've ever experienced and so, somehow, in our minds we try to figure it out. We judge because maybe, one time, we saw something that turned us off and so we project that situation on anything that seems similar. But most of all, I think we judge because we think we have it all figured out.
After we left the soup kitchen tonight, I began to share some of my experiences of the evening with Aaron. I told him about how certain people behaved, what they said, what kind of attitude they had, and I really wasn't being very positive. I vented about how I just don't understand their actions and choices. I told him how I thought people should act and respond based off of what I think is right and acceptable, and I told him how I thought a majority of the people we served tonight could change their lives, fix their problems, and do better for themselves. After listening to me spill my great and wonderful wisdom (insert sarcasm), Aaron said, "You know, when Jesus healed people He would just said, "Go, you're now healed." He never said, You're now healed, go get a job."
He made a perfect point. Jesus came to serve people. He didn't go around giving unsolicited advice to people and telling them how to clean up their lives. He wasn't speaking to the crowds about how to achieve a better life for themselves. Jesus came to serve and meet the needs of people and to do it in love. And once a month, when we go serve at the soup kitchen, that's what we're called to do. We're called to serve and meet their needs in love. Not tell them what they should be doing differently, not judging them based on their comments or attitudes, but to simply serve them. Because when needs are met, when healing has taken place, changes are made. Until then, it's pointless. Jesus knew people's lives weren't going to change for the better before He healed them. Yet after they healed, He knew He sent them away different than when they came. And He did the same for you and for me, too.
It's not up to us to decide how and when people change their lives. We aren't here to determine how to fix their problems and get them on the path to success. We are here to serve them. To lead them to the Healer so that He can change their lives. To point them to Jesus so that they, too, can be eternally changed.
We all come hungry at one point or another, but our purpose is to feed their growing stomachs as we lead them to the bread of life so that they may taste of His goodness and never hunger again.
#684 - Because He heals us and feeds us so that we are never hungry again!
"Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing." - Psalm 34:8-10