Covid for Jesus

Have you ever walked the streets of a town and felt like everyone was staring at you? Has it made you uncomfortable? Have you used it as an excuse to not talk to anyone? After all, why talk to people who are staring at you? I mean if they want to talk to me they will. Maybe you’ve said something not kind to the people staring at you. Maybe you’ve challenged them. Or maybe you’ve just judged them from across the street as you walk past. 

But is the above passage how we are called to live as followers of Christ? Is that what it looks like when “life is ministry, ministry is life.” I want to challenge that view. I want to challenge our way of thinking in the states. What would it look like if when we saw people starring at us we not only didn’t judge, but we reached out with kindness? Would it change the way people see us as Christians? Let me share a few stories from this week to get as an example. 

It’s my teams second day of ATL (Ask The Lord) and we are brought to Santiago. J (Jenna W) and I split from the team to walk in a different direction farther into town. Along the way we notice almost no women are out. Actually, not many people are out at all. But of those that are out they are all male. And we start to notice staring and some comments coming our way. But we laugh about it and say hola to everyone we pass. A few times we are able to stop and talk a little more with people, but not often. 

Then we start to walk past a house. It’s set off the sidewalk a little bit, pale pink with a white metal and brick fence surrounding it. And standing inside the doorway is probably the cutest little old lady I’ve ever seen. In a blue dress with an apron across her waste and a wooden cane in one hand. She’s watching the road behind us and we pass by saying our standard hola in greeting. But this time she responded and we had to stop and ask her to repeat so we could understand. She comes to the fence as fast as she could, really I was surprised she could walk that fast. And starts talking with us about her life and what she does everyday. Thank goodness J was with me because this woman had probably the thickest and hardest to understand accent I’ve encountered. We ask to pray for her and she agrees. Afterwards she thanks us and tells us to have a beautiful day. 

All I could think about afterwards is how if I was home I might not have stopped. Maybe I wouldn’t have even said hello as I walked past. How often do we ignore the people around us who are hungry to hear about the love of God? How would we know they are hungry if we don’t talk the time to talk to them? Wake up church! Loving our neighbors isn’t “love your neighbors on Sunday if they go to church.” Loving our neighbors means at all times and in all circumstances. If you are tired, love your neighbors. If you aren’t in the best place yourself, love your neighbors. If you think they don’t want it, love your neighbors. In all things and through all things we are called to love our neighbors. Loving our neighbors spreads love like a disease through our towns, workplace, or homes. Church aren’t we called to spread love? And our neighbors are every person we see in a day. If someone passes you in the street, they are your neighbor. So church, wake up and love our neighbors. There’s never been a better time then now. If I’m going to spread something I want it to be so contagious that everyone around me gets it. So I’ll continue being Covid for Jesus out here, y’all keep it up back home.