Searching for the “Real”

This past week, our church youth group spent their spring break serving at Mission Arlington.  We slept on cots or air mattresses on the floor of a borrrowed church and cooked meals on site to spare costs.  We then did service projects in the morning, and taught a child-friendly lesson to kids at apartment complexes.  In the process of teaching the kids, we knocked on doors to meet people, made a list of people who participated, and built relationships with the kids.  We know that after we leave, the Mission Arlington administrative leaders will reach out further to these families and meet identified needs.  Many of these apartments have on-site apartment missionaries who live in the apartment complex, teach Bible classes, and reach out to these families.  

The work projects in the morning are many and varied.  The workers might pick up used furniture from neighboring homes who have reached out to make a donation, or deliver furniture items to local apartment residents who have a need.  They might package items, deliver food, or prepare for a local community Easter egg hunt.  Sometimes they sort cans of food or clothes that have been donated.  They are instructed by our youth pastor weeks before to have a heart for service, and not be choosy about their work projects.  When they are asked to do something, they are to think “this is my very favorite thing!”  With that heart for service, we can meet needs cheerfully, acknowledging that all of these work projects, whether big or small, are meeting a need for a well-entrenched ministry.  

To prepare our hearts for service each day, there are worship sessions at the start of the morning and at the start of the afternoon.  There is also a daily sermon.  I continue to think about the comments from the last sermon that week.  The teacher asked us to consider  “What would it be like to live like this all year?”  Our church’s backyard Bible lessons that week resulted in 7 kids making a decision to follow Christ.  What if our actions saved 7 souls per week?  I think most Christians think they would be lucky to save 7 people in their whole life. 

I overheard one of our church kids telling another that what we are doing here this week is “real,” and it is easy to fall back to our old ways.  Serving and witnessing to others is what we were created to do, yet we get so busy with the other stuff of life that we are distracted.  The book of Acts tells us that the some early Christians lived communally, shared all that they had, and served the cause of Christ.  I suspect many of them had trades, which they did in service to others and to earn money to donate back to the church community.  At Mission Arlington, living out of suitcases and eating low cost but nutritious food, we learned what it is like to live with much less than we live with today.  We also see what life could be like if we lived communally, shared our resources, and served as though what we are doing “is our very favorite thing.”  

Now we are back home, sleeping in our own bed, showering in our own shower, and enjoying the privacy of our own home.  How much Mission Arlington will we keep with us?  How often will we serve as though it “is our very favorite thing?”  We must never forget that the “real” value to our lives, and the “real” task that lies before us, is what we were made to do.