Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:5
“There is no one colder than a Christian who is uninterested in the salvation of others. You must not use your poverty as an excuse. The widow who gave her mite will accuse you. Peter himself said, ‘Gold and silver have I none’ (Acts 3:6). And Paul was so poor that he often suffered hunger and was lacking in what he needed to live. You must not use as an excuse your humble background. They too were humble, of modest background. Nor should your lack of knowledge be an excuse. They were unlettered men. Slave or fugitive, you must do what you can. Such was Onesimus, and be mindful of his vocation… Do not use your poor health as an excuse. Timothy was frequently ill… Each of us can be useful to our neighbor if we do all we can.”
John Chyrsostom in Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 20.
We live in times when we have too many distractions that capture our interest and leave us uninterested in doing all we can and making the most of every opportunity in interacting with ‘outsiders’ or those not yet part of the community of faith.
And we also allow our limitations to serve as hindrances. If that’s you, I want to challenge you do have mindset change. Don’t focus on what you cannot do because of what you don’t have but focus on using what you have and making that your gift to God. I want to offer a personal story to illustrate this.
In October 2009 (15 years ago this month), I bent over to put my pants on and that act was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. I fell to the floor writhing in pain having suffered a massive herniation extrusion of my L5/S1, and the disk material when down my spinal column leaving me with stenosis.
In plain terms, like toothpaste out of a tube, my disk material went down my spinal column and pressed against the nerve root, which caused the pain. After the incident, only about 60% of the messages would make it down my leg. It left me with a limp. Since then I have not been able to do cardio, eat as much food, or play sports.
But I thank God for this thorn that happened at 40 years old. With the prognosis of successful surgery at only 50/50, it led me to take inventory of my life. I chose to let go of many things and to chose to use the parts of my body that worked completely for God, such as my mind.
I went on to finish my PhD in the UK by 2013. That changed how I used my time and my capacities. So, in the 15 years I have written 15 books. And as for activity, I walk. That’s it. I love to walk a field with our dog, a stream with a fly rod, or a path through life with people.
Let me conclude my story and this post by saying this. The decision to have mindset change, to go from self-absorbed and uninterested in the lives of others to doing all I can is not a one-time decision. It’s a daily choice. This choice has kept me posting Daily Meditations, now for 5,578 days in a row.
Stop what you are doing. Right now. Stop. Take inventory of what you have. And now, to the best of your ability, spend yourself for God. Don’t focus on what you don’t have – money, health, position – focus on what you have and use what you have for God in a manner that is useful for your neighbor.