I have gotten into a dialogue with a good friend who wants to keep me on track and help me stay Gospel centered in what I’m doing. I continue to be surprised at how many will make the assumption because I’m doing mercy work that it really isn’t the same as doing church and that it is possible to impact a person’s life and not have the Gospel be present? Last Sunday I had a good friend attend our worship service at night and he was pleasantly surprised to see our group be around 50 and then after church have a dinner at my house that worked out well. I have decided to write more about specific individuals and how God is impacting their lives through mercy work.
This last week while I was driving in the van getting some of the teens for church I had an amazing conversation with a friend – who we will call Ty. He is a 20 something who is African American and lives with his aunt because he doesn’t get along with his mom. He is a tall slim guy who dresses rather hip and has a rather intellectual side to him that is very surprising considering his upbringing. We have had some amazing dialogues in the past about life in the hood, God, thinking out loud and then the obvious – what are you going to do with your life.
This time it was about a new friend who he had met online in the last couple of months. We will call her Susie. Now Ty is a deep thinker type that is totally outside the box of his peers who are more interested in getting high or figuring out how to make a fast buck without having to do much of anything. He was quick to share about his online friend’s situation and how she had been an atheist that had crashed and burned. He was excited because she responded to his encouragement to seek out God. So our conversation was about how she had come to Christ and was beginning to pursue a church. (It turns out she is Chinese and I’m not sure where she lives.)
The real conversation came back to Ty and his family and why most of them were still outside of God. Our mutual concern was his younger brother who has always struggled with his life. It is too easy to blame the circumstances around someone to the point that they no longer are responsible for anything they do. I was really amazed at how well Ty was able to articulate mercy and grace from a Gospel perspective. I was able to ask him questions about the ‘race thing’ among his own peers and why everyone was so quick to call each other ‘Nigger’ and want to hurt on each other.
Ty doesn’t come to church that often because he always wants to dress nice and unfortunately doesn’t always have a phone that he can call me about his availability. As we finished our conversation he was jazzed about our conversation and wants to stay in touch and think through a plan to help his brother really get it. The reality is that many of our youth and adults can’t read. The key to most jobs and education is your ability to read and comprehend.
What makes this a special story is that Ty has grown up around a mom, siblings and other relatives who actively do drugs. The fact that he doesn’t want to drink, smoke or do drugs is incredible. The fact that God has everything to do with that decision is an amazing gift for me. Now his brother is also very open and receptive about Jesus. I think that he is a very young and immature believer. The challenge is that the younger brother isn’t motivated about much of anything besides panhandling spare change and getting junk food. I have been trying to get his attention about being more focused in school and being more able to rise above his circumstances.
I know that God is at work. It might not fit in the typical church setting but it doesn’t matter. Our father is about the business of doing the extraordinary through ordinary circumstances. I’m excited about being Ty’s friend and helping him grow in his young faith.
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