Anyone who tells me he doesn’t judge people is lying. We all do. We can’t help it. Judging is human nature. What we do with our judgments is our choice, but multiple times a day we observe, take in the information we have, and make a judgment about it.
Many times we have felt judged by others, and many times we have judged others. And most of the time, whoever judged was incorrect in some regard. What we judge people for differs based on what we value, but we all do it.
We judge people for how they dress, for what they eat, for why their children behave the way they do, for how athletic someone is, for what grades they make, for the decisions they make, for cussing, for making a mistake, and for treating us in a way our entitlement convinces us we do not deserve.
I catch myself so often getting angry or being frustrated with the way people think, with how people treat others, or with people’s actions.
“How could he do that?”
“Why on earth does she think that way?”
“I wonder why he’s not convicted about that…”
“Does she realize she came across that way?”
“How dare that person suggest that about me!”
And the list goes on and on. We have this saying on the World Race that we should always “assume the best” in people. We should assume the best in our teammates, in our hosts, and in the people we meet in each country. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t think we’re doing a very good job at assuming the best in people.
I’m willing to bet that you aren’t doing the best job, either.
Because if we truly assumed the best in each other, we would never be offended.
We would assume something happened to that person to make him act that way, we would assume maybe he was just having a bad day, or we would extend grace to him, assuming we didn’t know something about his life story.
But we don’t. So I’m here to suggest that maybe we should stop assuming anything. Maybe we shouldn’t assume the best or the worst in someone. Maybe we should just meet him where he’s at, listen to his life story, and offer to love him how Christ would.
In the different ministries in which I’ve served this month, the biggest thing I’ve realized is that there is always a reason people are the way they are.
There’s a reason the homeless guy with alcohol on his breath ranted to you for twenty minutes about the how he’s glad you’re not Chilean. Maybe his father was killed in the war and he murdered two people trying to keep his mom from being abused.
There’s a reason God allowed Monica to lose two children and half of her body to paralysis in the same year. Maybe He knew it would lead to her salvation. Maybe He knew how many people her testimony would touch in the future.
There’s a reason your teammate is upset about living in different houses and wants to spend more time with the team. Maybe he’s wired differently than you are and God values his relational gifts as much as He values your efficiency gifts.
There’s a reason God let me swim through a rotting arm believing He would take me to the Olympics. Maybe He knew that nations would hear of His work in my life through something called the World Race.
There’s a reason the cashier was rude to you.
There’s a reason your child thinks differently than you do.
There’s a reason that person cut you off on the highway.
There’s a reason your boss is in a bad mood.
There’s a reason that person ended up at the streetlight begging for money.
There’s a reason your sister is bitter.
There’s a reason the cross dresser on the street chose that lifestyle.
There’s a reason your brother in Christ doesn’t see an issue the same way you do.
There’s a reason that girl wears inappropriate clothing to church.
There’s a reason.
There’s always a reason.
And there’s also a reason you judge them. There’s a reason you think you are any better than they are. It’s called pride and it’s called entitlement.
“For who makes you different than anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” -1 Corinthians 4:7
Every good and perfect gift we have is from the Lord, descending from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17). If we are able to make good decisions about what we do, we are only able to do that through the grace of God.
We’ve never done anything that has made God love us any more than He did before, and all the people we judge have never done anything to make God love them any less. In fact, He loves them every bit as much as He loves you.
So when you feel your heart turn towards judgment today, instead ask God how He sees that person. Try to figure out the reason that person is the way he is. And then die to yourself, pick up your cross, and love him like Jesus would: through sacrifice.
UPDATES AND PRAYER REQUESTS
To show you a little bit of what we have done here in Mendoza, here are some pictures and explanations of our ministry.
We have been working with a church called Alameda, which is a huge church (six or seven services of a few hundred people each on Sundays) that exemplifies the body of Christ perfectly. The members of the church all serve in different aspects of the community, and each ministry reaches a different group of people. My team and I have been fortunate enough this month to participate in many of these ministries.
On Saturdays, we have participated in a ministry to the local “barrios,” or neighborhoods, near Mendoza. While a lot of the city is affluent, just a street away from nice houses are neighborhoods full of trash, dirt, and houses built from sheets of metal. It is in these neighborhoods that we have done outreaches, whether it is bringing the joy of the Lord and a message or washing children’s hair so they could get a free hair cut.
A huge part of Alameda is doing life together. Especially since their church is so big, small groups are vital for members to live in community, disciple each other, and continue to grow in their faith. We have visited many small groups over the course of the past few weeks, and in each one we have met people with stories that would blow your mind. We have shared some of our journey on the Race and our testimonies with them, and they have shared their lives, their testimonies, and their empanadas with us. This is one of my favorite ministries I have been able to participate in on the Race, because it’s just doing life with people. Plus after three hours of translating back and forth, my Spanish has improved a lot here!
We have stayed with a different family each week, as families in the church have volunteered to host us. The second week we stayed with a woman who is heavily involved in prison ministry. The next week we were able to go into the women’s prison with her, help with a dance lesson, and then I shared my testimony and a word with the women. Many of the women started crying and were praying ardently to God, and four women accepted Christ as their Savior that day. I had never been able to enter a prison before, much less do ministry in one, and I was overwhelmed by what I saw.
Many people view criminals as filthy and unworthy, as if they aren’t even people.The word God told me to share with them was in Acts 10, where God is telling Peter to go to the Gentiles. He tells Peter, “do not call anything impure that the Lord has made clean.” I felt this was kind of a weird thing to share with the women, but I told them that I felt like I needed to apologize to them for all the people who view them as unclean or untouchable, because they’re not. God sees them as pure, and He died to make them pure. May women started crying, so it definitely was a timely word for them. Be obedient to share words God gives you for people, even if they seem a little crazy! I was immensely grateful for this opportunity to serve in the prison.
Every Sunday we help out with the greeting team for two services at church. We wear awesome volunteer shirts, hand out announcement bulletins, and greet people with a smile.
One Saturday we got to take a trip out into the desert to visit villages of people who are descended from the indigenous people of Argentina. We visited houses, shared the gospel from door to door, and then the believers all came together for lunch and a service. It never ceases to amaze me how comfortable people are in isolation, without any of the conveniences we think we need, and how much they love the Lord.
This is MEC, the ministry Alameda does for the homeless in Mendoza. Every Wednesday night we go to the plaza and help serve food and love on people. Sometimes we do a drama or share a testimony, but more than anything we’re there to talk to people and get to know them.
These are photos from a different weekend where we did ministry in the barrios.
One day we attended the monthly missions meeting of the church. Everyone asked questions about our experiences and were inspired by how we had left everything to come to South America for a year.
Alameda also has a ministry each week where local produce shops donate fruits and vegetables, the church organizes them and sells them, and all the proceeds go to the fund for building the new sanctuary. We helped with this ministry, as well.
People invite us over to their houses all the time. Most of the time the meal is asado (steak). God bless Argentina.
We met one of the leaders of a local YWAM base, and she invited us out to do a ropes course. I thought it would be good for team bonding since we had been living in different houses, so I set it up and we were off! The day was full of scares and teamwork, and God revealed a lot to us about our team that day. It was truly an incredible experience! Here’s Esther and Eric finishing up the high ropes course.
Alameda was one of the first ministries we’ve served where the staff really tried to get to know what our gifts and talents were. They had a meeting with us and asked what we like to do for the Kingdom, and then they made events surrounding that. One of those was allowing Raychel, Eric, and Esther to co-lead worship for the young adults. They sang in English and the rest of the band sung in Spanish and mixed the songs. Then (long story) I ended up painting during the worship. It was awesome!
We have also helped prepare the new “temple,” or enormous church sanctuary, for its debut on Argentina’s Independence Day, May 25. We did some manual labor and cleaning over the weeks, so it was fun to celebrate with everyone on the big day!
And Mendoza is beautiful.
This is Monica and Hector, who I now call my Argentinian parents. The girls have been living in their house for the past two weeks and they have spoiled us rotten with food, trips to the mountains, and more. Monica even brought me home a pair of jeans this week because it’s getting cold here (we’re headed into winter) and I didn’t really have any pants. They are some of the most generous people you’ll meet, and I hope I can come back to Argentina some day to see them.
Also I’m in love with mate. It’s herbs with hot water that you pass around to every person at the table. It’s present at basically every social gathering in Argentina. I got myself a cup, so if you’re around when I get back, come on over and I’ll show you what it’s all about! (Also all the professional-looking photos are from Raychel and her awesome camera and photography skills).
And Fabian shaved his head…
Please continue praying for Alameda, Mendoza, Argentina, and all the ministries we have participated in here. I hope this gave you a small glimpse into the past month of our lives.
We leave tomorrow night for our home stretch of the Race. We are doing expedition work and making contacts, but since we are nearing the end of the Race and have to make sure our budget stays on track, we made a plan, so it is a little less spontaneous. We will be working with different YWAM contacts in Uruguay, and hopefully we will get to work in a surfing ministry!
We will head to Buenos Aires for a couple days, then continue traveling by bus through Uruguay, staying with contacts and doing ministry along the way. Then we will head to Iguazu Falls and finish up with a final debrief in Rio de Janeiro.
Also, there is a video below I made for Alameda. It is the testimony video I made for fundraising at the beginning of the Race, but I put Spanish subtitles on it so they could show it in the church. I love looking back and seeing that I said I would cross the world for God if He asked me to. Now we’re almost at the end, and I’ve done just that.
As we get closer to the end of the Race I should have more news for you about what my life will look like after I finish this season of my life on the World Race. To those of you who have been with me this whole time, wow!! We’re almost there! It has been the adventure of a lifetime, to say the least! I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. 26 more days! Let’s finish strong!
Until next time,
Tera
