For those of you that know me, or have been reading long enough, you know I don’t like to make waking up before sunrise much of a habit. I enjoy early mornings, but the sun isn’t even awake yet, why should I be? I’m still going to bed at the same time that night, it just makes my day so much longer, but I guess it’s ok every now and then. Like once a quarter. So, tangent aside, I was up before sunrise this morning and it ended up being such a blessing in my life, even though it feels like it was two days ago now. I joined a men’s Bible study with a friend of mine and it was enjoyable to meet the other men.
Our topic was the Gospel and the crucial point of the resurrection. Is the Gospel really even the Gospel without this point? If He didn’t rise, then He failed. It all hinges on that point. As men, we were all very adamant about this stance, but aside from that, I didn’t see much common ground with these guys. Two are engaged, two are married. All four are working full time jobs and at least preparing to support a family. One of the guys, Dana, has been married for 32 years. I haven’t even been alive for 32 years, what can I possibly bring to this table?
I won’t say that I kept silent during our discussion, but I did feel a little out of place. I guess I didn’t realize how much weight I put on demographics and life stages. It wasn’t until the end of our study that Dana said something that peaked my interest. He mentioned praying for continued support, especially financially as he was in the process of raising money. I thought, maybe he might be going on a mission trip or something like that, I don’t know, but it got my attention. I just asked him after our session what he was needing to raise support for and I was amazed. Turns out, Dana is running a home school based program that helps provide these students with additional schooling. They just recently started renting a new building that increased their rent, but tuition stayed the same. Thus the need for the support.
This school is about education, not a profit and sometimes Dana and the teachers have to take a hit for it. So, he has to raise money. As our conversation continued, I also found out he had spent several years in the Philippines in the Navy and he even told me a story of sharing the Gospel with a few local “working girls”. I was just listening, enthralled not just with his stories, but at the common ground God was revealing between us. This man was the oldest in our group and he has a TON of life wisdom on me, but in that moment I saw him as a brother.
I hope that’s not disrespectful to say, but it’s the truth. We draw so many lines and create gaps between generations that we don’t really see each other as brothers and sisters. When Dana mentioned the rest of his prayer requests, I took them in just like I would my accountability partner’s who is just a couple of years older than me. I wrote a blog yesterday on the importance of seeking Godly wisdom and counsel from men and women that have been there. But there’s another truth behind that. They’re still sinners, still struggling, and still learning the faith and strength it takes to be obedient. And in that aspect, we’re on the same field.
Today I saw a great amount of respect for Dana because of where he is in life, but I felt just as much of a burden to fight alongside him as a brother. I would love for this generation gap to shrink a little more and let us work together a little better and be a little more effective as the Body. Maybe then we could even lessen this denominational gap too..
And all of this before sunrise…
