No LIttle People!

I can remember back in my college and IVCF days reading a book by Francis Schaeffer called, ‘No Little People’. The simple truth of the book was that in the Kingdom there are no little people and also no big people. Yet, the reality for everyone is that we live in the shadow too often of what we perceive to be the big people. I know that as I write this I’m personally reacting or confessing to my bias against people who are in the spot light and choose not to engage with the normal average person.

I know that it is easy at times to use my background, education, experience and passion to intimidate people. I understand that it is at times too easy to use your gifts to make others feel less important or even valued by God. Yet, the reality for me is that I live in a land of little people. Yesterday I enlisted the help of one of my little guys, Paul or aka Bookie. We drove to a yuppie grocery store to pick up food for our homeless Christmas outreach. As we drove around I tried to get him to open up a little. Bookie is 11 years old and has already experienced the extremes in life such as a dad who is in prison for shooting someone in the back. He has a mom that has had too many boy friends and a growing family of 8 kids at this point.

I ask my little friend Paul how he felt about life right now. I knew that later on in the day I would be meeting with a mega church pastor who is well known and didn’t know whether he would even care about my little friend Paul. As I talked with Bookie it was clear that he felt ignored, forgotten and left out. As we talked about the difference between living with his mom versus his grandma it was clear that mom was more into her latest boyfriend and not him or his other 7 siblings. Yet, I knew that living with grandma and grandpa was better but not really.

I so much want Paul to succeed in life where he won’t repeat the mistakes of his dad or mom in life. Yet, the unfortunate reality is that unless someone intentionally walks with Paul in life he will end up a statistic. I know that it is so easy in today’s society to assume that the little people are little because of something they did and deserve their plight in life. As I sat and met with this mega church pastor it struck me that he was more concerned about his cell phone issues than remember who he was suppose to be meeting with today. I know that his heart and intentions are good and he will be used by God to ultimately help bring awareness and help for my Paul.

I shared my passion about the difference between helping from a distance and purposely choosing to be embedded in a marginalized community where you actually know someone by name. It is so easy to do something without really doing much of anything. I know I might come off as if I am against the mega-church or other large non-profits that do great work in bringing resources like food boxes or thousands of dollars of food gift cards but have lost the personal grassroots context of actually knowing someone by name. I know that if I would have been able to have my Bookie actually meet this well know pastor that my discussion would have taken a different turn. Once you meet someone who is the by product of the wrong way of helping, i.e. living off of the system and given a clear sense that being responsible for yourself, finishing school well and getting a job isn’t what’s really important.

One of my favorite small church pastors who helps me so often reminds me that Jesus is the one who walked in the trenches and got ‘shit’ on his shoes or sandals is the better example of how to be a real leader. The challenge is that most don’t want to get stuff on their shoes and it takes too much time and trouble to actually see the fruit of your labors.

Yes, I am learning to be ok with being a little guy who purposely loves on little people like Paul who doesn’t have anyone else to love and guide them through lives’ ups and downs. I so much want Paul to have a sense of value and worth that comes from God not from being a thug, bully or even a great student. Yes I can be better at being around the ‘big guys’ that God has placed me around to challenge to get involved like Jesus and get their shoes dirty.