Kickball Anyone?

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12: 4-5)

My friend, Mike, really loves Jesus. Like the rest of us, he also has problems. Thankfully, his drug and alcohol addictions that plagued him in the past no longer have their grip on him today. He’s been sober for almost 30 years.

But the ripples from Mike’s past addictions still affect him every day. For decades he was homeless and, for many of those years, Young Life college students who lived in a house downtown let him sleep on their front porch. 

Younger Mike handled living on the streets fairly well, but as his age caught up to him, his health problems began to accelerate. His friend, Charlie, saw Mike’s health declining and decided to take action. God gave Charlie many personal connections, persistence, and creativity, and he used them all to find Mike housing. Now Mike no longer worries about the next meal, or whether it will rain tonight.

Mike now has all of his physical needs met. He has housing. He has food. He has healthcare. But as I have gotten to know Mike better, I have learned that what he really needs now is community. We are all called to provide community to one other.

The government and many nonprofits provide for people and care for the basic needs. How many of them focus on community? If organizations provide for the stomachs, who will provide for their soul? 

Another friend, Thomas, recognized Mike's need for community. Shortly after his housing was secured, we decided that MIke needed a housewarming party. It was not complicated. Thomas brought the grill. I brought the food and the kickball. We both brought our families.

That sunny afternoon, we grilled sausages and played an epic kickball game in a weed-covered field across the street from Mike’s apartment. That afternoon I will not soon forget.

We are called to provide community to one another. We are called to be more generous.  What can you do today to love someone who needs it?

Father, help me to recognize both the physical needs and the spiritual needs of people in my life. Help me keep it simple and  take action. May You be glorified in the relationships I am building today.