A Challenge

George often recounts a story he heard from a time he saw Henri Nouwen speak before he died. (JEALOUS)

Nouwen asked :

“What do you think it is that God is going to ask you at the pearly gates when you die?

Will it be how many cars did you have? What church did you go to? Were you president of your company?

No, it won’t be these questions.

Rather, God will ask ‘What did you do for the least of these?’”

 

That’s such a challenge for me, especially as I prepare to leave the Dale House, where I live in the midst of “the least.” It’s easy to do something to help when it’s my job, but how can I continue to actively, with my life, do something for “the least” as I leave this job? I am fearful I will become lazy and not seek out injustices or those who need love the most. It will be so easy for me to form a new, easy, simple life, full of school work, Allan, making new friends, getting used to living in a new place, etc., etc.. but I don’t want that to happen. I want my life to be full in the way Christ intended it to be full, and for me, that means seeking out and working with the hurting. I don’t want to forget that.

I truly hope that I will not ever be “comfortable” in my life. That doesn’t mean that I hope discomfort on myself, but it does meant that I hope that I am always bothered by the injustice in our world and pushed to do something to help. I hope that I don’t get comfortable in a middle class lifestyle and forget that there are hungry, cold, lonely kids out there just begging to be loved.

It’s hard in our world to do that, especially for me. It is not what we are taught and it is hard for me to fight the battle against desiring money, beauty, cool gadgets, nice clothes, etc. It will be a fight for me to remember that question, but I hope when I meet Jesus that I can honestly stand in front of him, unashamed and tell him that I did love the least, that I bought him chic-fil-a when he was hungry, that I gave him a coke when he was thirsty, and a shirt when he was naked. I hope I can say that I bought him ice cream on a hot day and played cards with him when he was bored.

That’s the challenge for me, and I think it’s the challenge for all of us too.