So after graduating in May last year, I decided to stick around the Anderson area to work instead of heading back to the Northern lands of Michigan. This has been a blessing but also a curse. A curse because I have to explain to people that I graduated, but yet I chose to stick around, but a blessing because I have probably learned the most valuable thing I could possibly learn here in Anderson. Love.
I’m going to say something that may wig some of you out and some may not agree with and that’s ok, but here it goes! Do you know that massive bible they make you buy for intro to bible (The red one that adds a million pounds to your backpack)? I love the footnotes it has, but there were two scriptures a footnote focused on that rattle my bones a few months back when reading Matthew which reads:
Matthew 5:48 “Be perfect, therefore, as Your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasures in Heaven; then come, follow me.”
Wait… Did Jesus just call me to be perfect? Did he literally just say be perfect?
The answer is yes.
The only two times Jesus ever called us to be perfect. Not only that but his call to be perfect revolves around the love commandment. This shook me hard when I first read it and really caused me to reevaluate myself.
Why? Because I tried to avoid the people of Anderson as hard as I could.
I didn’t want to be involved with them and I didn’t want to become one. They’re mean, trashy and hopeless people who probably hated everyone for no reason (Or so my over-privileged private Christian school bubbled self-thought).
But back in September, I had the privilege of joining the core team for a revival movement that was hitting Anderson in November (1st-8th). As we began meeting and planning I got to meet these “Andersonians” who were not only on fire for Jesus, but on fire to tell people about Jesus and I began to hear stories of encounters these people had before the revival had even started.
Side note: Even though I do believe in street evangelizing, that’s not my focus. If anyone wants to argue that topic with me feel free to contact me. But heads up, I will win the argument.
Ok CJ, you are all over the place. Where are you going with this?
Well, as we began training to go out and minister to people, we had an order of how to talk to someone. Love, Listen, Discern, and Pray. Now I want to focus on the words love and listen because that is the focal point of what we are to do as Christians. When we went out and approached people in the city and just simply asked them, “Hey how are you doing?” they began to break down. Telling us all the pain and hurt they were going through and this is before they even knew we were Christians and we were there to pray for them! (This what I like to call divine appointments). It was unbelievable to hear some of their stories and what I found that week of revival is an unbelievably broken city that just wants to be loved and heard.
Here’s my point.
When was the last time you listen to a complete stranger? Mine was the other day as I listened to the Mcdonald’s employee talk to me about her frustrations at work and how miserable she was. All I did was listen and as I drove away told her I’d be praying for her. She was shocked. Do you know it’s easier for a stranger to talk to a stranger about their problems than to their friends and family? When is the last time you offered that kind of love and care for a complete and random stranger?
Side note again: It’s never random. God places you in those situations.
What if instead of talking about how bad the people in Anderson are and how Anderson is in the top 10 worst cities in America, you instead went out and got to know the city and got to hear stories and show love? What if you left your university and got on your hands and knees with the people that surround it?
Jesus calls us to perfectly love everyone. We may not accomplish that, but that’s why he threw in grace when he died on the cross. But don’t use that as an excuse to get out of going outside the walls of comfortability. As student leaders, be an example of the love Jesus showed the women at the well, the adulteress, and everyone else he came into contact with.
Here’s the best part. Where you can spend a thousand dollars on a Tri-S trip to do this for someone who you can barely communicate with, you can drive two minutes into downtown and not have to worry about cost or language barriers. And honestly, probably even someone who is within 20 feet of you right now.
Love is light and fear is darkness. Light never loses to darkness. Flip the lights on in a dark room, the light wins every time. It’s not even a competition. So don’t let fear stop you from showing God’s love.
I pray God would ignite compassion and eagerness into each and every one of you to go and be an image of God’s love to someone this week. And in the words of Church of the Crossing:
Go. Love.
CJ Lukas
Vision Revision Coordinator 2013-2015
