it is true - it is the simple things in life that matter. today, i learned that not only do they matter; they are costly.
towards the end of work, i was helping build up inventory. i was with one other co-worker, a male, and he had his ipod playing. the words were of a different language, so i asked what the song meant. he did not understand my question, due to answering by telling me the style of music, but that was okay. it led us to discuss what types of music we enjoyed. he asked me specifically if i listened to Christian music. i said i did, but i enjoyed various types of music.
this type of conversation led me to ask my co-worker what church he attended. i told him that i knew from a previous conversation between several co-workers, that he went to church and was just wondering what church he went to and how he began going there.
he started at the very beginning (a very good place to start!). he attended the "church of the mormons". he didn't start out at that church, in fact he went to another type altogether, for many years. he started going because he had a wife and wanted to change his life. he drank and was on drugs and so he stopped those things. he gained a lot of weight. a lot! it caused him health problems so he went to the doctor. he ended up having a heart attack. he was laid up for two months due to health issues - between being in the hospital and home, he said not one person from his church contacted him - no phone call, no visits. nothing. then one day there was a knock on the door. it was the mormons. they reached out to him in a tough time. people who didn't even know them, came to them in a time of need and when friends would have been welcomed! (and wanted!) the pastor of his former church came by to visit due to a long absence on my co-worker's part. too little, too late. they began to go to church w/ the mormons, and to this day, they still do.
i'm not going to get into mormons and all that jazz; that isn't what this post is about tonight. the people i want to address are those who are professing faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I want to speak to the body of Christ - the church of believers. special programs, bigger and more beautiful buildings, prizes galore, peppy bands, glamour and glitz are nothing if we are not going out and meeting the needs or even just visiting the people around us, who even sit next to us on Sundays or Wednesdays or whatever day you go to fellowship w/ the body. people are not going to know we care for them if we are not willing to show we care for them - until we put action behind the words we say or believe.
it doesn't take much to do the little things: write a letter, dial a number, get in a car or on a bike and go visiting. i was very saddened to hear my co-worker's story. but i was more broken from my brothers and sisters in Christ who failed to reach out to him and his family in a time when they needed them most. it turned them away; and it may cost them dearly.
towards the end of work, i was helping build up inventory. i was with one other co-worker, a male, and he had his ipod playing. the words were of a different language, so i asked what the song meant. he did not understand my question, due to answering by telling me the style of music, but that was okay. it led us to discuss what types of music we enjoyed. he asked me specifically if i listened to Christian music. i said i did, but i enjoyed various types of music.
this type of conversation led me to ask my co-worker what church he attended. i told him that i knew from a previous conversation between several co-workers, that he went to church and was just wondering what church he went to and how he began going there.
he started at the very beginning (a very good place to start!). he attended the "church of the mormons". he didn't start out at that church, in fact he went to another type altogether, for many years. he started going because he had a wife and wanted to change his life. he drank and was on drugs and so he stopped those things. he gained a lot of weight. a lot! it caused him health problems so he went to the doctor. he ended up having a heart attack. he was laid up for two months due to health issues - between being in the hospital and home, he said not one person from his church contacted him - no phone call, no visits. nothing. then one day there was a knock on the door. it was the mormons. they reached out to him in a tough time. people who didn't even know them, came to them in a time of need and when friends would have been welcomed! (and wanted!) the pastor of his former church came by to visit due to a long absence on my co-worker's part. too little, too late. they began to go to church w/ the mormons, and to this day, they still do.
i'm not going to get into mormons and all that jazz; that isn't what this post is about tonight. the people i want to address are those who are professing faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I want to speak to the body of Christ - the church of believers. special programs, bigger and more beautiful buildings, prizes galore, peppy bands, glamour and glitz are nothing if we are not going out and meeting the needs or even just visiting the people around us, who even sit next to us on Sundays or Wednesdays or whatever day you go to fellowship w/ the body. people are not going to know we care for them if we are not willing to show we care for them - until we put action behind the words we say or believe.
it doesn't take much to do the little things: write a letter, dial a number, get in a car or on a bike and go visiting. i was very saddened to hear my co-worker's story. but i was more broken from my brothers and sisters in Christ who failed to reach out to him and his family in a time when they needed them most. it turned them away; and it may cost them dearly.
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