What is the point of doing good things? Why do we do them? I know that I’m called to be a missionary wherever I am, but what if I do good things without mentioning the name of Jesus. Is it worth it? Am I accomplishing anything?
These are the questions that I found myself asking. I was walking through the bus terminal after an adventure day with Dunkin Donuts in my hand. I was so content with my strong, iced coffee and my fresh, chocolate donuts.
While walking, I began to think about the people around me. I began to see the people that I passed in the streets. I made eye contact with them. I saw them as people. I smiled at the man who had a leg swollen to 3 times it’s size. I said “hola” to the homeless man on the street that everyone else ignored. I saw these people that everyone else chose to look down upon before they even knew their story.
As I sipped my coffee, I realized that I really, truly didn’t want those donuts. They were fresh, American tasting, and covered in chocolate, but I couldn’t seem to think about eating them.
I knew that the Holy Spirit was prompting me to give them away to someone in the streets. Then all of those questions started to surface.
“What is the point of all this? What if you don’t share Jesus with them? You can’t speak their language, why share anything with them if you can’t see the fruit from it?”
I came to the conclusion that looking like Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean sharing the gospel with them. It could just mean sharing your food. It could just mean treating people like people. It could mean making eye contact and smiling at someone that everyone else chooses to ignore.
People know that we’re Christians by our actions. They know we’re Christians by the ways that we love one another.
When I found the man that I knew I was supposed to give the donuts to, I just handed them to him, smiled, and said “God bless you”. I had to run to catch my bus so I couldn’t have had a conversation with him if I wanted to. I really don’t know if he ate those donuts or if he threw them away, but sometimes you just find fruit in the obedience. Sometimes that Lord calls you to big things solely for the purpose of growing yourself in obedience. We never know how far the fruit of our obedience will stretch.
