READY! SET! and ACTION!

I guess that one could say that I’ve been in the people business for the entirety of my adult life.  From my Recreation Administration major at Chico State, my degree in Psychology with an emphasis in adolescent and family psychology, over 35 years of active ministry at five different churches and my diploma from Bible College, I’ve spent all those years from college into my senior years working with, ministering to, encouraging, counseling and leading people from childhood through their senior years!

And to be perfectly honest, I’ve enjoyed almost every moment of it.  I remember a conversation that Piper and I had with some other pastors one day where they referred to their ministry work as their “job” and wanted to have nothing to do with going to or talking about church on their vacation time.  That comment took Piper and I by surprise as we had never thought of ministry simply as our “job.”  It was not only our calling and a burning desire that consumed us, but something we simply LOVED to do!

After all that training and experience, I figured that I “knew” people and how that they would and/or should react to certain situations in life.   But when Piper got sick… I quickly learned that there was a lot about people that I definitely DIDN’T know!

The more that I read and study Paul’s definitive chapter on LOVE, the more I see how many people’s standards or definitions of LOVE (including my own at times) fall far short of God’s standard!  I Corinthians 13:2 in The Message paraphrase of the Bible tells us that,

“If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't LOVE, I'm nothing.” 

This modern version makes it clear to the reader that LOVE is an ACTION word.  That it is a physical ACTION that one has to take in order for any good work, thought, word, or heart’s desire to reach its full potential! 

In Piper’s very visible need, I was repeatedly surprised by what I’ve come to term as “Opposite Reactions.”  When people I thought would reach out to us only talked a good story but never put it into action, while others I least expected due to their lifestyle choices, meager finances, or lack of even knowing us, stepped out of their comfort zones and gave of themselves in order to LOVE and assist Piper and me.

Most other translations of I Corinthians 13:2 like the King James Version, conclude this verse by stating “But if I don't have love, I am nothing.”  This interpretation makes me think that one can just HAVE LOVE in their heart for someone and it will be enough… BUT I don’t really believe that this was the Apostle Paul’s original intent. 

The church at Corinth was experiencing some real difficulties with the behavior and beliefs of its members and I can’t help but believe that Paul was attempting to convey the idea that the physical, tangible ACTIONS of their faith expressed through their LOVE were far more important than one’s mere thoughts, understanding and desires toward others!  Those in need or in error needed to SEE the truth of the Gospel message through the ACTIONS of the people who knew and lived by It!

I can’t tell you how much more the ACTIONS of the middle-aged, skinny, rough looking man that came to a sudden stop in the Walmart parking lot and jumped out of his old, beat-up Mazda near our parked car, and asked if he could help me as I was lifting Piper out of our car for a shopping trip in North Carolina meant to me… than the well-dressed folks shopping in the Kroger store after church on Sunday… who barely nodded their heads to us as they passed us by.

Many actual experiences like that opened my eyes to the reality of walking in the type of LOVE that Paul wrote about in I Corinthians 13:2!  I stopped in Walmart the other day and asked a gal, if she needed help in taking the boxed microwave down from the shelf and into her cart.  She looked a little surprised and after a moment’s hesitation, said that she had it handled.  I wasn’t sure if I scared her when I approached her, but as I left, she did give me a smile!  No matter how she felt about it though… I walked away with a smile in my heart knowing that I had put feet to my ACTIONS of LOVE!

It's a good feeling to physically DO the Word of God isn’t it?  I like being able to make positive differences in other people’s lives… and not just think or talk about them… HOW ABOUT YOU?

Have a great week!  I spent the day-after-my-Birthday, yesterday, with my son-in-law on Grand Lake fishing (to no avail) and cruising around the lake all afternoon and then had a deliciously smoked Mississippi Pot-roast dinner at his and my daughter’s home… along with my two grandchildren and a VERY TIRED Fiver who ran around the backyard with them ALL DAY!  And I had a wonderful and relaxed time... and today I'm exhausted... as is my dog... Go Figure!  

Thanks to everyone for your Birthday wishes!