At the time of this writing, our church is getting ready for
our “Compassion Weekend” where we’ll be going into the surrounding community to
minister to those around us through cleaning up parks, ministering to the
homeless, etc. We have a desire to be the hands and feet of Christ in our city
and to be a light without expecting anything in return.
The toughest part in all of this, in my opinion, is having the right motivation and heart attitude while doing ministry. It is against our human nature to minister to others without expecting something out of it for us. At the very least, whether we admit it or not, we expect to feel good about what we’re doing or for the people we serve to be grateful for what we’re doing. But our ministry needs to be motivated by something and Someone much greater than that. Is our desire to serve able to withstand receiving nothing out of it?
A few days ago Jenn and I went on our weekly grocery store
run. When we pulled into the parking lot we saw a man standing on the median
holding a cardboard sign that said, “Homeless. Anything will help.” We decided
that we would bring the man a sports drink after we went shopping. As we exited
the parking lot we pulled up and handed him the drink. He said thank you, the
light turned green, and we drove off.
As we pulled onto the highway to head back to our apartment,
I felt a tugging on my heart to do more for the man so I asked Jenn if I could
drop her off at the apartment and head back to take the man out for pizza.
After bringing Jenn home, I turned around and headed back to the store where I
found the man, still standing there with his sign. I walked up to him and asked
what his name was and where he was staying. He told me that his name was Dave
and that he and his girlfriend were living in a tent in the woods behind the
store. I then asked if I could take him to get a pizza. He said he didn’t want
to leave his girlfriend who was sleeping in the tent because he didn’t have a
cell phone. I then offered to go grab one for him and asked if he needed
anything else. He said that he wasn’t picky and that he didn’t need anything
else.
I called in the order to Pizza Hut and then headed over. On
my way I stopped and bought Dave and his girlfriend some basic necessities like
deodorant, water, etc. I then went to Pizza Hut, picked up the pizza, and
returned to the grocery store. But when I arrived, Dave was not on the median
where I left him. I went behind the store to see if I could see his tent but I
couldn’t. I then went inside to look for him but he wasn’t there. After driving
around the parking lot a couple more times, I decided to leave.
Thoroughly discouraged and frustrated, I got back on the
highway and headed home with many questions running through my head. Why did
God allow me to go through all that trouble just to have the man leave without
receiving what I was going to give him? Weren’t my intentions pure enough for
God to honor them? What was the point of God giving me a desire to help someone
if the person wasn’t going to be there when I returned?
As I continued to reflect on the situation, I realized how
truly self-focused my questions were. God can provide for Dave’s needs without
any of my help and He wasn’t surprised that Dave wasn’t there when I returned.
In this moment, God was teaching me that He calls His people to obedience, not
good feelings or even success. God, through His Scripture, tells us to be
obedient to His command to care for those in need. He doesn’t promise that
we’ll feel good about what we’re doing or even that what we’re doing will be
effective. He just calls us to obey, to honor His commands because we love Him.
Pleasing Him should be our only desire. We can’t do this on our own but He has
given us the Holy Spirit to mold us and change us so that we are more like
Christ in His compassion.
Do we have faith to fail? Does our motivation to serve
others come from a desire to be obedient to God’s calling or to get something
out of it for ourselves like being able to pat ourselves on the back for
helping someone else? Do we measure success by effectiveness or by faithfulness
to His call regardless of the outcome? May we be a people that are marked by a
desire to be obedient to God’s call, who have a heart for the down and out and
the needy, and who have a faith that is completely Christ-aware instead of
self-aware.
