This you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. –James 1:19-22
Shortly after the release of his book exposing the horrors of ghetto life in 19th century New York City, a card was delivered to reporter Jacob Riis. Its message was simple, “I have read your book, and I have come to help. Theodore Roosevelt.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy stepped to the podium in the winter of 1961 and uttered these words: "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!"
And yet, Henry David Thoreau’s words echo through the canyons of many souls when he writes: “Most men live lives of quiet desperation, and go to their graves with the song still in them.”
As followers of Jesus Christ, we can choose to be men and women of action (as James teaches in his epistle), or men and women who wish we were men and women of action. The difference defines the quality of our lives, and it ripples out, affecting the quality of life for those around us.
It isn’t difficult to know which path we’ve chosen. We need look no further than our relationship with God for clues. Are we living a life that waits for God to serve us, or one that looks for opportunities to serve Him? Is our prayer life dominated by laundry lists of needs and wants? Are we happiest when our prayers are answered, and saddest when they’re not? Do we question God’s love or His interest in the darker days? If we’re reducing our relationship to the Almighty to quid pro quo, how can we expect our earthly relationships to be different?
How many of us spend days or weeks or months waiting for a chance to be significant, waiting to read the tea leaves of a relationship with God in order to know what to do next, and when, and how. Give us a sign, we say, or make it clear, we plead. Many a chance to act goes unnoticed because we’re waiting for a sign from God.
Scripture repeatedly teaches us to look inward when we’re feeling judgmental and petty (fix the log in our eye before attacking the speck in others), and to look outward when we’re looking to give life meaning.
If we are to live the kind of life God created us for, then we must bust out of our “me-first” thinking and into lives that serve, lives that act, lives that breathe life into others.
To do that, we must change the way we relate to God. This simple change will alter everything else, our work, our family, perhaps even our culture.
To paraphrase a President, “ask not what God can do for you…”
It’s time to stop living lives of laundry lists and tea leaves.
When we check out of this place, may our markers read, “I came to help.”
--Randy Kilgore
rkilgore@marketplacenetwork.com
www.marketplacenetwork.com
