PEA RIDGE — My family were members of a church that was located next to I-40, right outside of Ft. Worth, Texas. The church was located in such a position that it received numerous requests for financial aid. On any given day of the week, the church could have several requests from strangers passing through in need of money or food. One particular Sunday I remember coming in to the sanctuary and sitting in my usual seat. In front of me sat my friends in their usual seats, but next to them was someone I had never seen before.
He was a young man that was well weathered from his journey. His face told the story of many days walking from city to city. As I moved to introduce myself I was overcome by his odor. This man had a smell about him that I can not even describe and have never smelled on another human being. It was really bad and pungent. My friends were sitting right next to him. After the service we had lunch with my friends and they relayed this story to me.
When he came and set down, my friend’s wife said that the smell was so bad that she thought she was going to get sick, but she wanted to show love to our stranger so she stayed. After the service the family spent time talking with the man and found out that he was in desperate need for shoes and socks. They took him down the store and bought the man the shoes and a new pair of socks. The man did not show up for church that morning going around asking for money and would have probably left without anyone knowing if it were not for my friends spending some time getting to know him.
I am starting to have my eyes open to just how much I turn a blind eye to the poor of this world. I recently read in a magazine that for just $6 a year you could sponsor a family in Haiti with fresh drinking water. Christians, it is not enough for us to give our tithe on Sunday and think that wehave met our obligation of giving. Scripture teaches us “Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb. 13:1-2). I wonder how it would change my thinking if I were to see strangers as angles.
I will leave you with this paraphrase from Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love where he tells of a story in which he visits an orphanage in Uganda. He visits the orphanage and it is in shambles and the children are not getting their basic needs met (you know - food, water, clothes). He comes back and tells the church that he pastors “we are going to financially support this orphanage.” The church begins to support it with prayer and financial support.
A few years later, Chan gets the opportunity to returnto the same orphanage and there is a dramatic change.
The children were on stage singing Christian hymns and praising Jesus with smiles big and bright. They had clean clothes and their eyes were bright from the vitamins they were receiving. They were well fed and looked healthy.
Chan was standing in the back of the room and the choir director saw him and told the children that he was the pastor of the church that had been supporting the orphanage. All the children began to cheer and thank him. He came away with this thought: What matters more in this world- big houses, nice cars, designer clothes, big screen TVs, expensive vacations or supporting orphans coming to know Jesus as Savior?
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Michael Smith is the youth pastor of First Baptist Church, Pea Ridge. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Church, Pages 2 on 04/28/2010