Part of what ministry looks like for us this month is going to a park to hang out and see if we are approached by people, specifically college students, who want to practice their english. It’s not what I would think of when someone says ministry but it’s what we’re doing in a closed country.
A lot of times our park ministry looks like us playing a game (not totally sure what it’s called) and inviting people passing by to play with us.
Basically the game is us doing a much less successful version of this:
So the other day we were at the park and immediately were approached by an older gentleman who wanted to play with us. He spoke maybe 4 words in English so it was the perfect opportunity to live out the phrase “Preach the gospel at all times and use words when necessary.”
Being new to the game, we aren’t terribly good at it but I was still having fun trying to kick the thing around and just enjoying the company of those around me. But then our new friend started to do something to make the experience less enjoyable.
Every time I missed a kick or kicked it poorly he would look at me, grin and say, “No no no” while giving me two thumbs down. The first few times it was hysterical. “Who is this strange Vietnamese man who just tells us all we suck at this game? Who does that?”
Then it got old. Fast.
I kid you not, he did this for the first 20 minutes we played. And we missed a lot of kicks in those 20 minutes. As the number of thumbs down I received continued to rise my attitude continued to fall.
In the moment I couldn’t figure out why. I’m an adult, it shouldn’t bother me when someone tells me I suck at something. At least, that’s what I told myself.
But it did. It bothered me a lot and I found myself enjoying a beautiful afternoon in the park with some great friends a whole lot less than when we started.
And do you know why?
Because I let someone else tell me how to view the world.
Truth is not dependent on belief. It exists whether you want it to or not. I don’t have to believe in gravity but I will still fall if I step off a cliff.
Perspective, however, is entirely up to the individual.
Gravity exists. I can look at it and say, “Shoot. Gravity makes things heavy and hard to move.” Or I can say, “Wow, thank goodness for gravity or everything would just be floating around and bumping into everything else. That would be chaos.”
Truth is unchanged by perspective. Attitude, however, is dependent on perspective.
The truth in the park is that I am not very good at the game. I’m very much a beginner.
My perspective going in to the afternoon, the lens I was choosing to view the world through, was this: I am going to have a good time with my friends and maybe meet some locals we can show love to with our actions.
The lens I allowed our Vietnamese friend to place over my eyes was this: I am not good at this game and that matters because being good at things is how we receive love and validation.
This is the lens we should always be using to view the world though: I am loved by God. Not because of who I am but because of who He is. And He is unchanging so I can be confident His love for me will endure forever.
It’s easy to let other people dictate your perspective on life. Here’s my plea to you.
Don’t.
You can’t change truth. You can change your perspective.
And God’s perspective about you? It’s truth.
