Origin
Origin
Disarming Deception, pt 2, Not My Job
Sometimes it seems like we live in a "Just enough to get by" world. Someone asks us to do something or we see something that needs to be done and for various reasons, we are tempted to say, "That's Not My Job!" But the Bible assures us that we are our brother's keeper and Jesus told the disciples they should go the second mile. Join us at the table of Origin as we discuss, "Not My Job."
Hello, and welcome to the Table of Origin where we are disarming deceptions with the power of the Word of God. This week, we are disarming the thought process,"Not My Job."
Jina McAfee:You hear that one a lot, don't you?
ReGina Johnston:You certainly see it. At the table with me are my friends and co-ministers, Jina McAfee and Kyli Rose. So how's it going today?
Kyli Rose:It's a busy day!
ReGina Johnston:I actually wish all of winter could be like today in Texas. It's in the 60's or maybe even 70 something, and the sun is shining. And it's just a beautiful day. So even though we have a lot to do, God gave us a pretty day to do it. While we have this interesting topic, we're talking about so much more than just our employment and the thing we do for a living. We're looking at what's expected of us as a whole. As an employee, yes, but also as a wife, as a mother, as a follower of Christ, as a decent human being who is made in the image of Christ. What's my job? Where are my boundaries? Jina, can you give us a little more thought process on this particular deception?
Jina McAfee:When we're talking about this deception, we need to ask if we are defining our job based on our perception of our rights, like, what's good for me, or are we looking at our responsibilities? The Bible speaks of responsibilities. So it's not just about our rights, but our responsibilities. And the Word of God says this, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph 2:10). Isn't that cool. He prepared things for us to do. That's very specific, right? It also says this, and I think about this one a lot, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people.... It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." That's
Colossians 3:23-24. So that's not specific. That applies to anything. So anything could be your job really, right?
ReGina Johnston:A lot of times when I think about this particular phrase, "Not My Job," my mind goes to where Jesus basically told the disciples to go that extra mile. I think that is a thought process in Christendom. We have some graphic slides sitting before us that I will only get to describe to you. One of them is at the base of an ice machine that has poured out piles of ice on the floor. Instead of cleaning up the ice, someone just stuck a sign there that says, "Caution, Slippery When Wet." So obviously, this could have been an EXTRA MILE situation, but someone thought, "Well, it's not my job, so I'll just put out the sign." Another one, and this one
is even funnier:it has to be an armadillo in the middle of the road of Mesquite, Texas, and the road stripers were painting new yellow stripes down the center of the road and they just painted right on top of the armadillo. It's not my job to move that dead animal. But it is my job to paint the street.
Jina McAfee:Do you think that's on the way to west Texas?
ReGina Johnston:I don't know. It's pretty small so it's closer to Temple. When you get to west Texas, you're talking about big wild hogs so those would be big speed humps in the middle of the road with stripes on them for sure.
Kyli Rose:One of my boys actually pulled out red solo cups the other night, and instead of cleaning up the spill, he just put bright red solo cups around the spill to alert everybody in the household: There's a mess here. I'm not going to clean it, but just letting you know, it is here.
ReGina Johnston:It's harder to put the cups around it than to just get a rag and clean it up. But that's not my job. That's mom's job.
Kyli Rose:We know these are silly examples, but I do think it drives the point home. We know that when it comes to really important things, if someone doesn't do their job, bad things happen. We all have things on our plate, right? And there are people in our circles that you see who didn't do their job, and now it's yours. I'm joking about the Solo cups, but I feel like in a house of littles, I actually experience this tension a lot. They're learning their responsibilities. They actually do have jobs. They just don't perform them a lot. They think, "You'll do it, mom." We see that thought process and that frustration in a lot of different areas of our lives. I think this one resonates. Does anyone at this table or a listener have any pet peeves that are triggered when someone else doesn't do a very simple job?
ReGina Johnston:Yes. On the daily. Walk right past certain things that are obviously needing to be done, but you know someone else will do it.
Kyli Rose:We're talking about house projects, but I want us to think about all the multiple spaces: your job, maybe even spaces within the church, spaces within your faith. This actually hits home on multiple fronts. And it's really easy to be irritated, to be offended. I think we've all been there. When someone else doesn't do their job, they've dropped the ball, and you're now feeling the effects of that ball drop. It's really frustrating. But the truth is, there have been times when I've stepped out of my lane, and I've butted into something that was actually not any of my business. And it wasn't my role. It wasn't my job to address. And then on the flip side, there have been multiple times when I didn't get involved that I should have. I said, "No, I'm not touching this." Maybe it was not wanting to be inconvenienced with my time, not wanting to give my resource, whatever it is. There's been times when I've stepped into something that was not my job, and I knew it. There's been times when I didn't step in, and I should have.
ReGina Johnston:So today, we're going to unpack a lot of Scripture. And we're going to look at the parable of the Good Samaritan. And so Jina, can you help us with that Scripture?
Jina McAfee:We're going to be reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 25-37. It starts out, "And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Jesus saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus said to him, 'What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?' The lawyer answered and said, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' And He said to him,'You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.' But the lawyer wanting to justify himself said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (vv. 25-29). Realize the lawyer was an expert in the Jewish Mosaic and rabbinical law. That's a mouthful, right? But he knew the law. Lawyers know the law, right? And he was testing Jesus. So interesting. The idea behind the ancient Greek word for tested isn't necessarily mean or evil. This may have been a sincere question from a sincere seeker. Actually, I've spoken the lawyer's answer many times. To love your God and love your neighbors as yourself is huge. The biblical understanding of eternal life doesn't necessarily refer to duration of life, because every person is immortal. Every person has eternal life either in heaven or hell. It doesn't refer to a life that begins only when we die. Eternal life is that quality of life that comes from God, and a life we can have right now. I love that, don't you? A life we can have right now. I think I generally think of it as that forever life after this one. So that's an interesting, comment. Jesus flips the narrative here. He does that over and over again, doesn't He? He asked the expert, "What is your understanding?" He asked good questions. Wanting to justify himself, the lawyer didn't ask about the first commandment. He focused on the second part asking, "Who is my neighbor?" The deception here is you can't meet one commandment apart from the other. They go together. And Jesus illustrates this truth with a parable. So did you guys think this laywer was asking a sincere question when you read it?
ReGina Johnston:So many people did test Jesus that it's hard not to assign that to the lawyer whether it was part of what he was doing or not. And lawyers do tend to throw out tests. I think that might be a part of what makes them so good at what they do. But it could be that he's a sincere questioner. Sometimes the same behavior can be enacted by two different people, and it can come from a different heart. So it all depends on the heart. I'm glad I don't have to be the one who decides what his motive was.
Kyli Rose:We see the lawyer ask Jesus, this question, "Who is my neighbor?" Then Jesus goes right into a parable. He never just answers directly. He always weaves in narrative and story. And I like that. We're going to pick up in verse 30. It says,"Then Jesus answered and said,'A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance a certain priest came down the road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.'" So a little bit of quick Bible
history:these people did not like each other, the Jews and the Samaritans. What we also know is that this road was infamous for crime or robbery. And then we meet this priest and Levite who are religious people. One commentator said, "The priest and the Levite are mentioned here, partly because they were the most frequent travelers on this road, and partly to show that these were the persons who, from the nature of their office, [it was their job] were most obliged to perform works of mercy and from whom a person in distress had a right to expect immediate comfort. [It was their job to provide comfort to someone in need. That was their job.] Their inhumane conduct here was a flat breach of the law." They see this man, and they responded. We're responding one way or the other. A non-response is a response. So we see that they respond but they don't respond out of mercy. They actually take the time to cross the road to remove themselves from the need. We look at this and we think, how could they not step in. But we do this all of the time. These would have been very valid thought processes that this priest and this Levite had: What if this is a trap? This is a dangerous road. I'm not a
ReGina Johnston:And as we look further, we see Scripture says, medical doctor. What could I actually do? How could I really"A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. be helpful? I have to go to my job of serving in the Temple. Maybe I have to be there by a certain time. Or maybe they[this young man, this man who was beaten on the side of the thought this is probably his fault anyway. He knows this is a road] And when the Samaritan saw him, he had compassion. So he dangerous road. He had it coming. He was asking for it. Today, you and I might think that he's probably a bad guy. Or went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; if it is a young woman, we might think she did something to and he set him on his own animal[this man's own animal], brought provoke this attack. She probably had a part to play. And the list goes on and on, but ultimately it was their job, and him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when the they didn't do it.
Jina McAfee:We don't think about that, but he had to walk. Samaritan departed, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, and said to the innkeeper, 'Take care of him;
ReGina Johnston:And he left money to actually pay for his and whatever more you spend,[when I come again] I will repay you.'" Kyli already shared with us that Jews and Samaritans did not like each other. It was racial, but it was also religious. There were a lot of things in their culture that caused them not to care for one another. And so now we see this Samaritan going over to minister to someone who really would have, in the natural, mistreated him possibly. So he's confronting history to do this. When he saw the man, he had compassion on him, bandaged his wounds. He used wine as an further needs. And then said,"If it costs you anymore, I'm antiseptic, oil to soothe the wounds and ease the pain, and put him on his own animal while he himself walked. good for that. You can count on me." Verse 36 says, "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" When we say"neighbor" here in Texas, we mean the person who lives in our community, the person who lives next door, right? These people did not live next door to one another. The question Jesus is asking is, "Who treated him neighborly and who showed mercy on him?" Then Jesus said, "Go and do likewise." The lawyer knew who the true neighbor was, yet he could not bring himself to say it. He knew it. And Jesus said, "Go and do likewise." My neighbor is anyone with a need right in front of me. When they materialize, and I see it, that is my neighbor. And it might be someone that culturally I wouldn't even consider helping. But God is saying, consider the fact that this might be your job.
Kyli Rose:I think this is interesting because with the Samaritan's culture, had he walked away, had he washed his hands and said, "I'm not stepping into this," there would have been a whole slew of people behind him applauding that decision. If you fast forward this thing to 2024, we have a whole culture of people who say,"It's okay to boundary ourself to the point that we're not helpful." I'm building, I'm structuring, a life that is best for me and my time and my goals and my aspirations and my dreams. "Boundaries" has been such a buzz word. I feel like we can boundary ourself to a place of complete ineffectiveness. And the only job that we're doing is one that serves ourself. So what about people applauding this decision? I think we have a whole lot of people who applaud us to live just that way.
Jina McAfee:We justify ourselves, right? It's like your heart gets pricked when you see a person in need. On my way to work, I'll see someone who has car trouble, and all kinds of thoughts go through my mind. I don't know if this happens to you or not. I think, well, I have a phone, but I'm a woman alone. I'm going to my job. I ask, "Is this a dangerous situation?" I don't know. There's this wrestling that goes on inside of me. Even after the fact, I wonder if I should I have done something.
ReGina Johnston:Well, there's also this pendulum that we tend to swing, where nothing is our job or everything is our job. And so we have to figure out what the Lord is really saying to us. And sometimes we take this particular parable, and it really pricks our hearts, and we think then everybody who's In the lawyer's question, it was almost as if he was looking for begging on the side of the road is my job. But there's also more aspects to this, just the basic thought processes of life. If I spilled my drink at a table, somebody is going to have to clean that up. Do I just walk away and leave it? In some ways, just the common respecting of people is not considered anymore. We just leave things a mess and move on. Because the mess has gotten so big, we feel like we cannot effect change in the mess. a loophole, like, "How can I get out of serving?" That is something to consider for sure.
Kyli Rose:We need to check that. How can I get out of serving? Who is not my neighbor? And who is?
ReGina Johnston:That's interesting. Maybe he's asking who is not my neighbor, rather than who is.
Kyli Rose:What's the minimum?
Jina McAfee:That's where I think we go today, especially,
Kyli Rose:I think we have to check our heart. We need to wake up and ask what is the most I can do today. We need to look for opportunities to serve instead of thinking I'm not qualified, instead of looking for ways out. Let's not be looking for loopholes.
Jina McAfee:A whole different mindset. But it's interesting that this story is timeless. It's just as real today as it was when Jesus spoke it. He is such a good storyteller. He really prods you, right? He is really trying to lead you in what is right.
ReGina Johnston:We overcomplicate things, but, Jina, I think you're about to help us simplify.
Jina McAfee:According to the Word of God, my job, my assignment, or my calling, is pretty simple. Love God, love
people. Love God:"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind." That's really what the lawyer said. And then
the next part, love people:"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." So love God--God and Jesus Christ. Love people, all people, all made in the image of God, whether you like them, understand them, identify with their struggles, or not. So who is my neighbor? Everybody!
ReGina Johnston:To bring this even closer to home, and I want to be careful how I say this, because I'm definitely not wanting to elicit political arguments, but when this war between Russia and the Ukraine erupted, the tendency of the church was to take sides. And I get that, but there are people involved. Sometimes we take sides on things, forgetting that there are people involved in both sides. What we have to do as the church is learn how to love people, not systems over people, not countries over people. Love people. That's hard to do in some of these situations where the nuances are difficult. I think that's the way we have to check ourselves. When I make some of these broad, sweeping, even political statements, ask myself, "Am I genuinely, from the heart, loving people?" Because that's my job. I'm not a government official. Now, if I were a government official, I would have more to wrestle with where that's concerned. I would have to figure out how to do my job and love people. That would be really hard. We need to pray for our government leaders. Sometimes we just jump on this side or that side so easily, but there are people on both sides of the issue and we've got to figure out how to love them.
Jina McAfee:One of the things I thought about in the story of the Samaritan, whether it was an actual story or Jesus just uses it for an example, if a man who didn't associate with Jewish people took care of this Jewish man like that, how do you think it would have changed his heart? It would have changed his heart. It would have affected his heart. So we do change hearts by our love one for another; we touch lives in a deep way. So why we do what we do matters. What is our motive? We don't know what motivated the priest or the Levite, but that statement to cross the road to the other side...
ReGina Johnston:Has anybody ever done that to you?
Jina McAfee:Crossed the road to the other side? I mean they saw me coming?
ReGina Johnston:In middle school, that happened to me. Honestly.
Jina McAfee:Were you as drawn to living up to what you believed? Did you come across that way? Or, why do you think they crossed to the other side?
ReGina Johnston:It was a very specific situation, and it's so mean girlish, honestly. You know middle school can be so cruel. The thing that happened was our parents became embroiled in a situation that we were too young to be embroiled in ourselves. In middle school, you're savvy enough to catch some of what's going on, but not all of what's going on. So I knew there were some things going on, but I didn't know all of it. I knew it By somebody that should be protecting you, caring for you. must be more than I thought it was because a girl who had been my friend was now no longer my friend. When I would meet this person in the hall, she would cross the hall to the other side. So it happened. I felt that and can you imagine if the wounded man was aware enough to even see that, that's wound on top of wound. So, wow!
Kyli Rose:These two people groups had religious tensions. Behaviors of the Samaritans were just abhorrent to the Jews. That in some ways is a tension too. As believers, we can look at behavior and our concern is, if I love you, then I'm actually condoning how you're living. I'm saying how you're living or what you're doing, that's okay. We've talked about that here. That's a tension. So what does that look like? It's not my job, you're no longer my neighbor, because you do this? So are we called to that space to love anyway? I'd say so.
ReGina Johnston:I'd say so. I mean, "Love is not a rose garden."
Jina McAfee:It's not how you feel, either. So we don't even know what motivated the priest and the Levite. We don't know. Maybe they thought they were doing the right thing. Maybe they were running late to the Temple. Maybe they didn't want to defile themselves or their clothes by dealing with blood on their way to the Temple. The Old Testament law required a perfect standard of performance. Blessings and curses were transactional. So what does that mean exactly?
ReGina Johnston:You can earn a blessing or a curse, by the way you behaved.
Jina McAfee:So that's interesting. By contrast, New Testament, Jesus offers grace, and our obedience is supposed to be born out of love in our heart and relationship. So it's not just this outside behavior where we're checking boxes, but inside, we're listening to what He's leading us to do. And James says, "Faith without works is dead." But we know works without Godly love may be dead, too. So works that are done purely out of duty and obligation, and we've done that some, to check a box or meet someone's expectation or to manipulate God, I would suggest to you that those works may be dead as well. There's another word for it--legalism. We've been talking about that.
Kyli Rose:You touched on this. Some of us fall into the ditch of that's not my job, I'm not doing it. Then there's the other ditch where I do all of the jobs. What she's saying is that both are out of alignment here. People see actions. You can see the gal running around working her head off, but God sees the heart. He sees the motive. He sees the why. I think we have to constantly ask ourselves, do a self examination, and honestly, you can't even do this in and of yourself because you will always give yourself the benefit of the doubt or be incredibly hard on yourself and self deprecating. This is work that you and the Holy Spirit are doing in tandem, day in and day out.
ReGina Johnston:The Bible says that man's heart is exceedingly wicked. No one can know it.
Kyli Rose:So we're constantly doing this work with the Holy Spirit. What is my motive versus what is God's motive? Our job is not just about our actions, dealing with whatever that job may be, but our attitude. So what's my motive? My duty? Is it duty? Is it responsibility? People pleasing? That's been a big one for me. The need for order and control? That's also been a big one. Any of you resonate with the need for control? I don't like the way you do it, so I'll do it myself.
ReGina Johnston:That is my job.
Kyli Rose:You rest. When really the motive is that I don't want to play nice with the team. I can get to the finish line faster. And I like the way I get there, more than if I have to collaborate with people, which is what Christ calls us to. We have to look at this all the time. You can call it whatever you want, but it's a broken motive. There may be some pride and finally love for others, but also often love isn't our primary motivator. I'll speak for myself. Often love is not my primary motivator. What's God's motive? What's His character? It's always love. He's always challenging that part of us, that selfish part of us that just wants to cross to the other side of the road because people require time. People are inconvenient. If we're never being inconvenienced, I dare say we've established too many fences and put the word"boundaries" around it. People require time. They require stooping. So always love, always truth, always freedom, and order.
Jina McAfee:As you're talking about this, I think about how we see these things in our kids, but we don't necessarily see
Kyli Rose:There's actually a story about four people named ourselves. Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
ReGina Johnston:It may seem like a silly little poem, but it's really the truth, especially the part where it says, "Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it." If everybody said it's not my job, then nothing would get done. Can you think of any stories where this particular deception, Not My Job, was a part of the story at all, whether you had to wrestle with it, or whether later you thought, really, that was my job. I should have done something.
Kyli Rose:I think there have been lots of moments, even sharing the gospel, sharing my faith, sharing my story, staying on the side of the road where the need is has been hard. It's really hard to stay on that side sometimes. There have been multiple times where I know that I should have spoken up. I know that I should have stayed on that side of the road of the need. They didn't even realize they had a need for Christ, but I realized it. We're talking about a man with big open wounds and gashes and all these things, but we're surrounded by people with a ton of unseen wounds, heart gashes and broken places and trauma and sadness and anxiety. How often have I stepped to the other side of the road? They might not have even recognized their need, but I did. And I removed myself. I went and stepped on the other side because I didn't want to be embarrassed. or inconvenienced or I was scared that they would just reject me altogether. It's one thing when they're asking for your help because there's a need. It's another thing when you recognize it, and the Lord is saying, "Hey, step in." They don't know, but you know. So, yes, multiple times, more than I'd like to think, actually.
Jina McAfee:In that poem, they're all justifying and thinking through it, and the truth is, it doesn't get done. When it's sharing the gospel, that's life or death for somebody.
Kyli Rose:Think about the Scripture of the harvest. There are very few workers who are willing to stay in the field and do the job.
ReGina Johnston:What if we just formulated a practice of hearing the Lord's voice and doing what He said. Rather than just arguing ourselves through the points, just hear the Lord's voice and do what He says. It's really that simple.
Jina McAfee:When you were talking earlier about how Jesus lived on the way, that's a lifestyle. It actually seems like it would be simple to just do what He is asking us to do as we go through our day. When you read through the Bible, there are so many stories where people are basically saying, "It's not my job." The one that rings out to me is the story of Cain and Abel where Cain is jealous of God's attention and acceptance of Abel and not of him. God tells Cain to just do what's right, but he kills his brother. God asks Cain, "Where's your brother?" God knows. God knows where Abel is. Cain says, "I don't know," when he did, in fact, know where his brother was. Cain follows that with a question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" That's a question that rings out.
ReGina Johnston:I hear it. I hear it in my spirit a lot. Am I my brother's keeper? The answer to that is a rhetorical, "Yes, absolutely. You are your brother's keeper." That could be in anything. If you see your brother about to run off a cliff, you are responsible. All kinds of things, all kinds of places, if there is a broken system, yes, I am responsible. I do need to do what I can do. Mainly, I need to hear the voice of the Lord and how He wants me to respond.
Jina McAfee:Because He has a plan. When you say, "Do I see someone running off the road or over the cliff," we think we don't see that very much. But in real life, people are running off of cliffs all the time by the choices they make.
ReGina Johnston:It's so easy to look and say, "It's not my job. I'm too busy. I don't have enough time. Or, somebody else will do it." Just like these people in the Good Samaritan story who just went to the other side of the road. If we formulate a practice of that, that becomes who we are, people who aren't touched by what's happening. We don't have compassion for what's going on with somebody, and we live that. We can harden our hearts towards it.
Kyli Rose:It's a sad reality. We all get so caught up in our lives, that we say we're too busy. One of the things that struck me about the story, when he bandaged him, he was prepared to meet a need for that journey. He had the oil. He had the wine. He had the bandages. I just think from a practical standpoint, yes, we do have to be obedient and respond to the need, but that obedience actually takes some preparation. I have to be prepared for need in my schedule. Am I planning my schedule accordingly, to be able to meet need? He was able to pay for his hotel room. So that moment of obedience is actually preceded by other steps of obedience. I have to be able to be prepared for the need when it arises. Am I prepared? Do I have margin in my schedule? Do I steward my finances to help? I don't think these were bad guys. I think they just had somewhere to be and they were busy. And I think we're busy people. I don't think we're necessarily like saying, "I don't want to help them. I actually want to watch them suffer." I'm just busy. I have no margin room. I have no time. I can't, I can't, I can't. There's too much. I'm overwhelmed. So will we be prepared? Do we have the oil and the wine and the bandages and our bags, so to speak? Are we ready when we see the need? So oftentimes, we say, "It's not my problem." We might not say it out loud, but we say it with the way we structure our lives. And we become just like the priest and the Temple assistant that just pass on by. We forget what God has called us to do, to love people just like the Good Samaritan did. Luke 10:33 says,"Then a despised Samaritan came along,and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him." I think we touched on this. This
is the litmus test:Are you responsive to need? Or has your heart become so callous that you see it, and it doesn't do anything anymore? As soon as the good Samaritan saw the man, his heart was filled with compassion for him, and he goes over and begins to dress his wounds and then he takes him to an inn and continues to take care of him there. But what I love most about this story, is that this is a time in the Bible that the Jews and Samaritans were supposed to hate each other. And this is generational hate. And and you've touched on this, Regina. I think you said it well. He had to face that and look at it and confront it. He had a choice to make, and we saw what he chose to do. There's a quote that the world says,"Don't cross oceans for people who wouldn't cross puddles for you." But I think the challenge is to do it. I'd also say this. There are a lot of puddle moments, more puddle moments than ocean moments. People won't even cross those sometimes. But the bulk of our day is puddle moments. Sure cross the oceans too, but get the door. Put their basket up. Help someone with their groceries.
Jina McAfee:intern, and you said, "We've got work to do. We've got work in front of us, deadlines, but if someone walks in the door, we lay it aside, and we touch that life. It's not that you didn't have work to do, but there's a laying aside, and just trusting that God will give you the time. I love what you said, Kyli, there are more puddle moments than ocean moments. All the time.
Kyli Rose:It's practice for the oceans. There are ocean moments too. We go, "Wow! That's a lot of need!" But we practice with puddles first.
ReGina Johnston:When you look at that scenario, there wasn't anything for the Samaritan to gain by helping. So it's not about what we gain for ourselves. It's about what we can give to others. A lot of times we fear what we might lose. What am I going to lose in order to do this? But if you have a candle, and you want to share your light with someone else, if you want to light their candle, it doesn't make your candle lose its light necessarily. Often, it'll even make the light grow stronger. If you hold them closer together, you can see that light grow. It's not that you lose anything. You gain. It's a win/win situation. We don't need to fear what we're going to lose when we step out and do the thing that God has asked us to do. We trust that His ways are better. And His accounting is in our favor.
Kyli Rose:And, He can ask it because He did it. He did it first. He gave everything. And there was nothing we could give back.
Jina McAfee:Wow, that's true. So I'm just going to go to this Scripture in First Corinthians 13:2-3. It's a powerful Scripture that says, "If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I can move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing." That really hits hard. Because we could be the best person in the world to the world's standards. We could be doing good things. People could say, "Look, what good thing she's doing." But if we don't love and pour into others, then we have nothing. God's kingdom is such an upside down way to live. It's not like the world. And love is such a strong word, and it has so many definitions to it. I love this Scipture. It will actually adjust me. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, "Love is patient and kind. [Sometimes I have to ask, Am I being patient? Am I being kind?] Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. It never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance." Some of these points can adjust me every day, multiple times a day. Am I irritable? Am I loving? Am I laying down life? How am I coming across? I don't think about that all the time.
Kyli Rose:So we see that love goes beyond. Love says, "I will take responsibility." Love says,"I will go the extra mile." And we can live this way because we serve a God who loves so much that He gave His one and only Son. And whoever believes in Him, gets to have life forever and ever and ever with Him. So we love because He loved us first. So God, we thank You for that love. God, it's hard sometimes to stay on the side of the road where there's need. There's a lot of it. God, I thank You for not going to the other side of the road when You saw my needs. I thank You for sitting there, for healing wounds that were unseen. God, we're called to love like You love so I pray, God, that You would empower us with Your Holy Spirit to discern the places and the spaces that we're called to step into. God, that we would be prepared for those moments of need, and that we wouldn't cross to the other side. God, give us the faith to believe that You really are the God who provides if there is need in front of us. The need is great, and we can call it that. It's there, and it's hard, and it will cost something of us. But God, You are the provider. You provide what we need in the moments that we need it. And I pray that You would just make us so sensitive to what You're doing. I pray for those hardened hearts. God, maybe we've become so overwhelmed with need that we've just kind of shut off that valve, and that compassion isn't flowing as freely as it once did. I pray that You would turn the valve back on, that You would make us really sensitive and aware, that You would give us the discernment and the tools, God, and that we would be productive, that we would be fruitful, that we would be impactful, God, that we would go the extra mile. In Jesus' name, amen.
ReGina Johnston:Amen. Amen.