More than a contribution …

Recently I was given a couple movie passes and I used one to watch “The Blind Side.” Great movie!

I really liked the movie because it did a quality job of sharing a Christian message without being “cheesy” or contrived. It was a real story told in a compelling way.

But the heart of the story is what is so important for Christians. “The Blind Side” is the story of a wealthy white couple who help change the life of a homeless black teenager. They did so by taking him into their family as another son, loving and caring for him. It would have been easy for them to simply contribute to his needs, or as Sandra Bullock’s character says in the movie, “make other arrangements.”

But they didn’t make other arrangements. Instead of having him stay in their home a few nights and then sending him off somewhere else, they took him in, provided him with his own room, and treated him like a full member of the family. They took on the burden of helping him in every way.

Christians are well conditioned to the idea of contributing to the needs of others, rather than meeting the needs of others. We’re used to writing checks, offered with a prayer. It’s not often we hear of stories like this couple who take on the whole burden of meeting someone’s needs.

Instead, we’ve become conditioned to first meet our own needs, then to meet our comforts and wants, and then from what is left beyond that we make contributions toward the needs of others.

Granted, the real life couple portrayed in this movie had the resources to meet all of the needs of their adoptive son (and much more), so doing more than contributing was easy for them … materially. Even so, they had to give entirely of their love and commitment, which they did.

The Book of Acts tells the story of the the early church, and it’s an early story of “The Blind Side” on a grander scale. Over and over again, we read of how those first Christians — many of whom were of very meager means — went beyond simply contributing to meeting the needs of others, to taking radical steps to make sure there were none among them in need! People even sold some of their belongings to make sure the needs of others were met.

Those early Christians did not see the needs of others as something to be contributed to out of their excess after making sure they maintained their quality of life. Instead, they were willing to affect their quality of life to take on the responsibility of eliminating needs.

The example of the first Christians we read about in the Book of Acts is one of consistently straining their talent, resources, and personal comforts in order to serve others on behalf of Jesus Christ.

As a new year approaches, it’s a great time to look afresh at that example. We will have the opportunity to serve others in need in the coming year. We will have choices to contribute to the needs of others, or to meet the needs of others.

Which route are you making plans to take?

Scotty