The Recipient of an Attitude Adjustment

By Gobel Brockman

This is "Sue". (Not her real name.) My friends Jay and Eddie (from Urban Outreach) and I met her and a few other folks last Thursday under an overpass in St. Louis. It's where they are currently staying. The building you see behind us is the Edward Jones Dome, where the St. Louis Rams play in the NFL. The contrasts hit me like a ton of bricks. Here were these people living under an overpass, thankful for any help they could get, literally in the shadows of a building where people think nothing of paying $10-15 for a hot dog or a Coke. Notice that I didn't say hot dog AND a Coke.

Before you jump ahead of me and assume that I'm going to try to guilt people for enjoying their lives or try to convince them to give every penny they have to charity, I'm not. That would be hypocritical of me. I go to ball games. I buy Starbucks instead of Folgers. I have a cell phone and an iPad. My intention in this is not to make you feel guilty for enjoying life. Instead, I simply want to ask you the same questions I had to ask myself as I was driving home that Thursday night. Questions like:

How often do I catch myself complaining, and how valid are those complaints?
How closed off am I to what others are going through?
Simply put, am I doing enough to help people who genuinely need it?

As I was heading east on I-70 that night, I kept thinking about this simple truth: we're a spoiled lot. Our blood pressures go up 20 points if our internet connections are too slow. People complain about "Corporate greed" - on their blogs, on nice computers or laptops, while sipping lattes and listening to music on their iPhones. We see people on Facebook in a state of near-rage. The cause of their angst? Someone had the audacity to send them a game request, which apparently has the same effect as someone sneezing on you while carrying the Plague. Yes, we are indeed a spoiled lot.

As I said, I'm just asking you to do some honest self-evaluation. There are people around us who are hurting. Rather than wasting what little time we have left on this earth complaining about things that don't really matter, why not commit ourselves to the notion of doing things that will? Jesus made an incredible statement in Matthew 25. The Bible says that He spoke to some standing before Him and said, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me." Then those standing there said, "When did we see you like this?" Jesus replied, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you've done it unto Me." That Scripture isn't meant to teach salvation by works, it's meant to teach us to look at people the way Jesus does - worth serving, sacrificing for, and loving. You see, Jesus thought I was worth loving and dying for - though I've yet to figure out why. Yet in spite of myself, He loves me unconditionally. He also asks me (and you) to remember that He loves others just as much. As He shares His love with us, He will also open opportunities for us to share that love with others. So let's ask God to open our eyes to any and every way that we can do that. Some are called to hit the streets. Some are called to put gas in the tanks and food in the hands of those hitting the streets so that they can share God's love. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.

I think everyone has "point of no return" moments in their lives where things can never quite be the same again. Last Thursday was one of those moments for me. Am I where I need to be? Not even close. But I'm determined to walk in that direction. There are many people like "Sue" who need to know that someone out there cares. God help me to be one of them.