A Hero of Mine

I may be narrowing down a book topic after all. Yeah, yeah, I know I don't really have book-writing aspirations at the moment, but this one.....well, this one could be different.

Proposed Title? It's Not Always Wrong to Say Yes

Sometimes, the no's get overwhelming. They stop sounding like no's and just sound like another reason to want to crawl under the bed for a week. They sound less like no's and more like a personal affront. They sound very little like a reasoned, prayerful answer and more like a I'd-better-run-from-this-before-I-have-to-do-something.

Yup. Church ministry--where the paid staff get to hear the word "no" more often than a disobedient toddler.

Church is the group of people tasked by Jesus himself to love each other so well that those around actually notice. Somehow, church ends up being re-defined as a place where people go to feel loved and make sure their kids feel loved, but only a few are called to love. This is actually a huge reason for discontent and church-hopping. People are thrilled when the pastor remembers their name, but six months later, they are hurt and sad because the pastor hasn't become their personal best friend. As if a guy serving even a few hundred people could be everyone's best friend.

Loving one another will always, and I mean always, cost us. Love at its core is all about an imperfect someone else and nothing to do with gratifying ourselves. I guess we forgot because we tend to think if someone is hard to love, our spiritual gift must not cover them. We bought into thinking God doesn't want things to be hard. Ummmmm.....wrong. So wrong. Love is hard. It just is. Does anyone think Jesus was walking on air, constantly fist-pumping about the absolute loveableness of those he was around? Does anyone think the incarnation and the cross cost him nothing? And he told us to love as he loves. Hmmm.

Churches easily fall into the trap of over-programming, but at the root of it all, even in a program, we have brilliant opportunities to love and serve. Saying no 100% of the time to opportunities to love and people to love should be a red flag about whether or not we are loving the body of Christ at all. Rather than digress into how church should be simpler, I'll let you read one of the 7,258 books out there about all of the church's faults and share instead who one of my serving heroes is.

My mom.

She's not in a hip demographic. She's a grandma. She was widowed young. She works full-time. Most churches aren't exactly out there beating down the doors to get people like my mom. Nope, most churches are trying desperately to bring in families with children. But who is going to teach those children? Who is going to love them? Who is going to notice when they walk in on Sunday? Yeah, you guessed it. My mom. The way I see it, churches maybe better beat down some doors to get more like her. Because the young 'uns....well, the young 'uns are...ummm...preoccupied. But actually, as it turns out, the ones my mom's age are also...ummm...preoccupied.

But if your child is blessed enough to be in my mom's class, she was praying for your child this week. By name.

She doesn't teach because teaching is her passion and gift.
She teaches because the body of Christ, down to the youngest, is one of her passions.
She teaches because it is a way she can love in the body of Christ.
She has chosen not to pass by blessing, but to embrace it.
The wiggly boys.
The giggly girls.
The Sunday School lessons that end waaayyyyy to early and leave her with too much time at the end.
This is one of the ways she shows love in the body of Christ.
It is not easy, but it is rich.
And so is she.

She doesn't have to walk into a church gathering and hope someone loves her, because she's already looking for the people she wants to love that day.

Jesus noticed the children.
He made time for them.
He looked them in the eye and talked to them.
So does my mom.
And she's one of my heroes.