I enjoy coming home and getting to see all of my close friends that I have been apart from, but there are always those families that I’m excited about sharing a meal with them. Pam and Jim Brown are one of those families and they always bring up some of the greatest points and the most interesting questions, and I had the joy of having lunch with them today. Their grandson, Bryce, joined us today and even though he’s still very young, he’s always a good source of entertainment. Today he spent the first half of our meal trying to figure out if he knew me, and also trying to convince me that the last time he saw me I had short hair. The one thing we could agree on was the fact that I was a missionary and he was ok with that. In fact, his Pammaw (I can’t call her anything else anymore) actually pushed him to share his latest missionary story.
Now the spotlight was off of me and it was on Bryce, so it was his time to shine. He began his story, “It was a dark, dusty day in ole Tuscaloosa…” It took us several minutes to make it past the first sentence, but we were enjoying the creativity. Eventually, Pammaw jumped in and took over with Bryce’s permission and she continued his story, with his interjections of course. I loved everything about this story because he knew with everything he had that he was just as much of a missionary as I am, even if he never goes to the places I’ve been. I like that.
Like many elementary aged kids, Bryce’s grandparents reward him for good grades, good behavior, and anything else worthy. This time around, Bryce was rewarded with a candy bar and a dollar. He could do anything he wanted with “his” money, so his mind immediately began to race as they walked out into the parking lot. Bryce was now headed to the thrift store with a half eaten king sized 3 Musketeers bar in one hand and all the freedom $1 can bring in the other hand. On the way out of the parking lot, they passed a man on the street that was begging for handouts. Bryce immediately felt the tug to share his candy bar with the man, so his Pammaw pulled over and let him give it away. Within a few minutes of wandering through the thrift store, Bryce was convicted that his giving wasn’t over and he needed to give his $1 to the man too. So they hopped in the car and turned around.
The man was right where they left him, so Bryce jumped out to deliver his gift, but struck up a conversation with the man as well. They traded a couple of Bible verses and Bryce even pointed the man to the local Salvation Army to where he could try his luck at a bed that night. I don’t really know what ever happened to the man, but I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to get a gift and have a conversation with a kid like Bryce. Who knows how many people had just driven past him that day, hoping not to make eye contact by checking a phone that wasn’t ringing or unnecessarily changing the radio station. I’m not picking on anyone, I only bring it up because I’ve done it myself.
I know it’s easy to stop and give something to someone, but it was cool to hear that Bryce considered himself a missionary because of this act. I couldn’t agree with his thought process more. That’s really all it takes to be a missionary. It’s all about spreading the Gospel, making disciples, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, or just meeting needs. That can be done anywhere from a street corner to the eighth floor of an office building. For those of us that call ourselves Christians, we’re all missionaries if you think about it. Some of us just spend a little more time on the covert side. I’m fine with that, just as long as you realize that you’re just as powerful as any missionary on any mission field. We have the same story to tell with the same authority.
I once was separated from God and headed down a selfish path of self destruction. Then I realized that this life wasn’t about me and there was no way I could find fulfillment on my own in any of my ventures. Then I gave my life to God, and while not everything has gone according to plan and things have been far from perfect, my life is so much better. We all have a version of this story to tell, and while it is more than powerful enough, we have the chance to fill in our own personal details and through the Holy Spirit, bring even more power to the testimony of Jesus. We all have a story to tell and a message to preach. Sometimes it’s as easy as sharing half a 3 Musketeers bar and $1. So start there…
