love them like jesus

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Before you read my blog, press play on the video. That's cool if you read the blog while the song plays, but once you have read the whole blog, go back and listen/read the video again.

A couple weeks ago today the topic of the worship/discussion was brokenness. Chandy spoke about brokenness and how it essential for each of our hearts to be broken in order for Christ to fill that void. How in our brokenness we can reach others that have or are currently in similar situations. During some periodic conversations that I had over the last several weeks with Chandy, Ron, my parents, and some random people that have stopped by the mission un-announced, I started to become somewhat discouraged. Discouraged isn't really the best word for it. Rather than give a word for it I will explain my scenario.

People who have overcome alcoholism can help mentor, direct, encourage and give advice to similar abusers. Individuals who have lost family members such as parents, brothers, sisters or other significant others can help comfort and relate with a person who recently lost a close, loved one. The list could go on and on...

Then there is me. I'm incredibly blessed. I have good health. I have never lost a loved one tragically or suddenly. I live a comfortable life. I have good friends. I go to a good church. I have never, really, ever had some huge, catastrophic incident in my life that was life-changing. For the most part I have made decent decisions over my years. So I don't really have a dramatic, inspiring, "turn-around" story to shock people with when they ask how I came to know Christ. At worst I have bad grammar, a terrible ability to spell and an everlasting, inability to proof-read my blogs to make corrections (that's not for real, that's a joke, that's just an exaggeration of how I feel sometimes).

My point is, I have really had some trouble recently deciding how I can minister to people that I don't share similar experiences with. How do I go about ministering to a mother of three when she discovered hours ago that her forth child, still in her womb, had died? How do I minister to the kid that comes to Rock Island in tears because his sister's, babies daddy is threatening his family unless they agree to give the child to him? How about the kid who has lived in the US since he was a child and now is forced to leave his school, the only friends he has, and the only life he has known to move back to Mexico because of legal involvement and family issues? Or what about the countless alcoholics, crack-heads and other drug abusers who come day-in and day-out just to get a small bag of food and some coffee? How do i go about ministering to these people? What makes me think that I can say or do anything that will influence, comfort, help or change these people's lives? Along with these concerns comes the ever so popular question, "why"? Why do things such as a baby dieing or a kid being shipped back to Mexico happen?

So far, with the help of this song and some divine, scriptural (is that a word?) intervention, this is what I have come up with.

"Just love her like Jesus, Carry her to Him.
He yoke is easy, His burden is light.
We don't need the answers to all of lives questions.
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side.
Love her like Jesus...Love her like Jesus."

"The Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands.
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands.
The rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands.
He cares for them just as He cares for you.
So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus"

So this is my answer. How do I, how do you minister to a person with an unfamiliar situation, someone you feel like you can't relate to? You love them like Jesus. You can't explain to them why things happen like they do. You can't give them an answer to the questions they might have. But you can do just as the song says...

"WE DON'T HAVE THE ANSWERS TO ALL OF LIFES QUESTIONS, JUST KNOW THAT HE LOVES THEM AND STAY BY THEIR SIDE, LOVE THEM LIKE JESUS"