One of my favorite authors (speaker, pastor) is Rob Bell. I finished his book Velvet Elvis the other day, and was discussing one of the concepts with a friend of mine last night. He said “Rob Bell is unique because his messages are so simple, and yet they are very deep--all at the same time.” The concept we were discussing deals with evangelism and getting the true message of Jesus out into the world. Rob talks about how as Christians, many times we are taught that our greatest achievement will be to get someone else to become a Christian. However, Rob states that not all people will become Christians no matter how hard we try, and if we love people with the sole agenda of “leading them to Christ”, then it isn’t really true love…it’s love with OUR agenda attached, which somehow cheapens that love. He then uses an analogy of a Christian living on a street with a Hindi neighbor to the left, an atheist on his right and an agnostic across the street. He says that if the Christian simply loves their neighbors the way Jesus did, that Jesus and Love win regardless of the beliefs of the recipients of that love. When I think about what that looks like, I see it as; a cup of sugar here, a mowed lawn there, a kind word, an ear, a fixed deck, a prayer or getting the stray cat down from a tree…You get the idea. Just simply loving your neighbors like Jesus loved. Forgive quickly, be more available, be encouraging, and help those who need it. Rob says “and anyone can be your neighbor”.
A week ago I was back-to-school shopping for my 9 year old daughter and 7 year old son on a Monday morning. I had taken the day off and under normal circumstances, wouldn’t be caught dead in mall, especially on a ‘vacation day’… but alas, the kids needed clothes for school and my wife’s mother who was in town, wanted to contribute to our shopping expedition. She blesses us in this way from time to time, and as always the timing was perfect.
I was in the boys section, and after finally finding a pair of pants that fit Logan (not an easy task) I decided to go back to the rack, and get one of each color. I was pulling five pairs of pants off of a rack and I heard a voice I didn’t recognize, hurriedly talking to Shelli. I looked over and saw a very anxious, tall and very pregnant woman. She had a panicked tone and was obviously upset about something. She was wearing a pretty blue maternity dress and was saying “I just don’t know where it is, have YOU seen it!?” I asked Shelli what she was missing and apparently she had lost a ‘gift card’. I found out later that it was worth $65. I ignored the lady in blue, and walked away from the situation. Over my shoulder I heard Shelli say to the woman “oh, honey what color is it? What aisle were you in, when was the last time you saw it?” I made a quick decision to not get involved and made a hasty exit over to the boy’s shirt section to round out Logan’s outfits.
That’s when I felt that voice. I say “felt” because I did not audibly hear anything, but I had an immediate and STRONG feeling that I was supposed to help out. I had this quick argument with myself about this not being MY deal, and that I didn’t need to waste my time for someone I didn’t even know, and that maybe this was a scam or someone looking for attention.
And then the feeling/voice got more intense. I reluctantly turned around, walked back to where I was standing, quickly walked 10 steps down an aisle and made a random left hand turn and it was right there.
On the floor.
Upside down.
The lady-in-blue’s gift card.
I smiled, bent over and picked it up and walked back to the area where Shelli, the lady and our kids were standing and Shelli said “did you find it Jay?” I said “yup, here ya go” as I handed it to a very happy women. The next minute of time is a blur, I think she thanked me, but what I remember is that she seemed VERY relieved. As I walked away, I was reminded what our obedience means to others. Prior to turning around and helping out, I was so wrapped up in what I was doing, that I almost missed the opportunity to bless someone. This small gesture of kindness took me all-of-about 11 seconds.
There are passages in the bible that say we do not get into heaven through our actions. We get there through developing a relationship with Jesus. I am learning that as our relationship with Jesus grows, we can’t help but act different!
Your neighbors are waiting!
Copyright Jason Elkins
