Galatians 2:7-10
7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been
entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been
entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked
through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through
me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John,
who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave
the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the
Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to
remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
So, I’ve been listing to Mat Kearney’s new album a lot lately… because
my ears are trained to like awesomeness and that album reeks of awesomeness!
The first track is called Heartbreak Dreamer … at the end of the song
there is a spoken word artist doing a poem, it’s good. He starts out “this
one’s for the fat girls…”
I liked the poem so I looked it up and listened to it in it’s
entirety. The poets name is Anis Mojgani and the poem is called Shake the Dust.
He performed it at a Ted Talk that I listened to and I found it so inspiring. “This
one’s for the fat girls…” it’s catchy and his voice holds you to his words… “this
one is for the little brothers, this one is for the schoolyard wimps and the
childhood bullies who tormented them…”He goes on and lists all the people that “this
one” is for, and he tells them to Shake the Dust… don’t settle
for the label that they’ve been given, own who you are and become the best
possible version of yourself… the line that I like the best is when it
says “this one’s for the ones amendments don’t stand up for, the ones that
are told to speak only when you are spoken to and then are never spoken to.
Speak every time you stand so you don’t forget yourself, don’t let one moment
go by that doesn’t remind you that your heart beats 9000 times every single day
and there are enough gallons of blood to make every one of you oceans… do
not settle for letting these waves that settle and for the dust to collect in
your veins.”
That is so powerful, and inspiring. It fires me up to find
some people who have been labeled by the world and to show them how freeing
Jesus can be. I get pumped when I hear that poem. It inspires me because God
has really given me a passion to see people, teens especially, taking steps to
realize who they are in Christ and to then “become who you are” in
Christ. That’s why you’ll often see our tag line “become who you are” at
youth group. Because I believe that so many of us have such a limited view of
who God has made us and we don’t “become who we are” we settle for a
false and unfulfilling version of ourselves.
What’s that got to do with this passage? Everything. Look at
the last verse… these guys are getting their assignments as
to where to go and do ministry…and Paul gets the poor people, and he
is pumped, because that is where his heart is. He got what he wanted, and he
wanted that because he is good at reaching them.
I have watched Pastor Shan over the years and one thing that
sticks out about him is that he is unbelievably good at reaching the hurting
people. I will do my part and if I notice someone that is hurting I will do
what I can, but this guy has a radar for it, and he knows exactly what to say
and how to reach them… it’s like those who are needy are metal and
God has built this incredibly effective magnet inside Pastor Shan and it just
draws him to these folks and then God meets their needs through
him.
Paul was excited about who he was sent to serve because he
already knew who he was good at reaching. Now Paul has reached the rich and
poor, young and old, etc… and you should be willing to go to anyone, but
we are each specifically gifted to reach a certain crowd or group or style or
type of people, young, old, christian, non-christian, angry, depressed,
successful, overweight, underweight, intelligent, special needs, sick, … the
list goes on… who has God designed you to reach out to ? Who are
your “fat girls?”
1. What kind of people have you had success connecting with?
(Classmates, athletes, old people, kids, peers, non-christians, greasers, soc’s…)
2. Only, they asked us to remember the ________, the very
thing I was _________ to do.
3. Without forgetting the others out there, what are ways
you can get better at reaching the people you connect with?
Take a moment and journal about this.
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Written by Jeff
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