#7daysofservice Challenge

As we enter into day 2 of the #7daysofservice Challenge, there are two verses I want to share with you. The first is Mark 9:41. It says, "Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward." Jesus is teaching his disciples about a variety of things and he includes this little nugget of truth. If you do something in my name, no matter how small, it won't go unrewarded. Essentially if you serve others in the name of Christ and His Love, you won't return empty handed. Serving others for God's glory is life-changing for both the doer and the recipient. That's how God's kingdom works.

The second verse is from 1 Corinthians 13:3. It reads, "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." Isn't that interesting? You can give up everything you have to those in need, and go through immense suffering, but if you have no purpose in those things then you gain NOTHING. Without God's love, our acts of service leave us without meaning. The biggest act of serving someone else can leave you feeling down and disappointed if you do it for the wrong reasons.

Let's keep both of these verses in mind as we serve others this week (and every week for that matter). God does not want us to simply serve our fellow man. He desires for us to connect to Him, fill up with His Love, and share that love with others. If we serve those around us in the name of Jesus, that is when God can start doing incredible life-changing things through our actions. That kind of service is a reward that lasts an eternity!

When Your Platform is a Minefield

The voices of the audience all blend into a steady murmur as they make their way to their seats. The lights go down and the voices quiet. A stagehand tells you its time and gives you a push towards center stage. Finally, the curtain goes up, you wonder how your mouth got dry so quickly, and the spotlight locks onto you. Every eye is focused on you.

Most of us have been there before. Staring into the spotlight like it was an oncoming train. For some of us the last time we found ourselves in that place it was an elementary recital. For others it was a high school play or maybe more recently someone talked us into the embarrassing act of Karaoke. No matter what the platform is, when you find yourself in the spotlight, your body acts like it has entered an entirely different atmosphere.

Change of perspective, Bill Shakespeare said, “Life is a stage.” If Jersey Shore has taught us anything it’s that Bill was right and people will watch anything. Life really is a stage though, and our technology and culture have intensified things. Cameras are everywhere, and if something interesting happens, there’s a pretty good chance it will get distributed on a global scale. Have you ever had a bad day? Maybe you have accidentally walked into a fountain while texting? Yeah, millions of people are going to see that. They are going to comment and video will probably get linked to their Facebook wall too.

If it gets people talking it’s newsworthy too. Forget about finding ways to create more jobs. If you can turn reality into the surreal and catch it on camera you have found an economic stimulus that politicians would die for. Have you heard of the Failed Marriage Business Model? Whether Kim and her wedding was real or just a gimmick it generated an amazing amount of attention. Fox News said that most estimators think that Kim received nearly eighteen million dollars. Who else gets paid $10,000 an hour for being married? She may be the punch line for many a joke right now, but isn’t the real punch line that we paid for it all?

Over 7 million people tuned into watch a football game on a Thursday night. It wasn’t a pretty football game either. Both teams only combined for one offensive touchdown. Still, for some reason it was the 6^th largest TV audience to watch a Thursday night football game. The cause? The guy who managed the offenses’ only touchdown: Tim Tebow. Talk about living life under a microscope. Everyone from ESPN’s talking heads, all the way down to a plethora of Facebook statuses are full on arguing if he is actually a QB or not.

Tim is a pretty vocal guy. He is vocal in his faith, he is vocal in his leadership, and he has even been vocal after some of his failures on the field. His personality, desire to win, and faith have attracted a huge amount of interest. Every time he tweets nearly a half a million people read it. I wonder what its like for him to look into that spotlight?

Today, having a platform means constant scrutiny, ridicule, and constant potshots. All of that is a given, even if you don’t falter. Make a misstep in the spotlight? Prepare to get eaten alive. I’m not ready for that kind of stage. Are you? Is your faith?

Reading through the book of Acts you will find the followers of Jesus sharing His story with countless people and those people embracing Jesus as a result. Every step of the way, you will also find a huge amount of resistance. Paul, Silas, Barnabus, and Peter couldn’t stay anywhere for very long. Not because they did anything wrong, but because they made some people very uncomfortable. In Acts 14 a mob beat Paul beyond the point of consciousness and thought they had killed him. Just a few chapters later Paul and Silas are arrested and beaten without even being properly accused. Still, as they traveled from town to town their routine stayed the same. They would find people who wanted to talk about knowing God and introduce them to Jesus. They weren’t seeking the spotlight, they were simply messengers sharing the Message God had gave them. Are you ready for that platform? Can you imagine staring into that spotlight?

I’m not ready for MTV to send a camera crew out to my house to film a reality show pilot. I’m not sure what I would do if a CNBC reporter surprised me for an interview on current events. I don’t even want to think what the rest of the country would tweet, comment, and blog about if I did an in-depth interview with ABC. I would all too likely sizzle like an egg in a frying pan.

Paul followed God’s lead all over the place. He got to see God do amazing things through his words and actions. He also had a very angry group of people chasing him every step of the way. If they had gotten the right opportunity, they would have killed him too. Paul, still, was comfortable with the platform God had given him. He was also willing to go through all the other suffering that came with it.

Monday Afternoon Links

youthHOPE
This is a blog a friend of mine writes on from time to time. The organization tackles ministering to students on a global scale. If you really wanna get involved you can support my friend and his wife Adam and Kristy Griffith. I really believe in what they are doing in Thailand and the passion they have. Great blog with some wonderful (and challenging) insights.
 
Harassment Survey
 I read this article this morning from WCPO's website. The article discusses how rampant sexual harassment is in schools, between students. It covers the span of topics like sexting, bullying, and moments of harassment where students really just think they are joking around. This is a very thought provoking article on the reality we find our students living in everyday.


Meals for Haiti  
I LOVE me some Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. A group of our students and leaders went down this past summer and served with Northwest at the Mole Saint Nicholas. It was a great experience. Our friends at NWHCM are doing something really cool this Thanksgiving Season. They are trying to raise money for a MILLION meals for Haiti. Here is the best part: the meals only cost a nickel a piece. They are raising money from now until December 7th. So go check your couch cushions for change and get in the game!

Waking Up
This is a really cool spoken word video from a young adult conference a few weeks ago. Not only is it well made, but it is a great challenge to never stop dreaming, be a part of solution, and radically help others. Watch the video it is a great use of your next 3 minutes.