Who is this Mike character? And why do we love him? Good questions, if I do say so myself.
Here’s what we know about Mike. He is made in God’s Image. He lives just outside of Traverse City and he walks to the grocery store two miles away (to get candy for Halloween, but that’s beside the point). It was just starting to rain as I passed Mike on 72. First glance showed that he was expecting to be walking. Mike was definitely dressed for the occasion. As I passed, I glanced at my passenger seat. It was full of various odds and ends. “I have no room” I thought to myself. “My passenger door doesn’t even open all the way” “If he were to see what I have in my passenger seat, he wouldn’t ride with me because he would probably think me to be a murder” (I happened to have a pair of hedge-clippers, a rubber-mallet that was working it’s way off of the handle, a large screwdriver, an impromptu set of lockpicks and a set of garbage bags, off the top of my head). This began the mental argument that I had. The brief overview follows:
Steve: “I don’t have any room to pick him up”
Steve: “You are driving by yourself, you’ve got more than enough room”
Steve: “But their is stuff in my front seat, I don’t want to have to move it”
Steve: “It’s the right thing to do to at least stop and offer”
Steve: “But he’s all dressed up. He probably WANTS to be walking”
Steve: “If it were Jesus, you would at least stop and ask how he’s doing”
Steve: “I’m on my way to church and I would be late if I took ALL that time to turn about and ask”
Steve: “Screw you, Steve! You’re a hypocrite and you always have been. You talk about loving people and serving God, but you drive right on by. It’s people like you who give Christians a bad name. You’re all talk”
Steve: “FINE!”
At this point, I turned around in a side street, cleared my passenger seat (for a passenger!), and set a course in the opposite direction. Mike gladly accepted my offer and within a few seconds, we were headed to the local grocery store. By car, it took us about 4min to get there.
Over the course of the conversation, I learned this. His name is Mike. He lives at the top of that hill (yes, that one .). He has lived in Traverse City for about four years now. That’s it. Nothing deep. Nothing revealing. Nothing divinely inspired (seemingly). But the rest of the trip (and the rest of the night), it got me thinking.
Why did I turn around? Was it really my love for Mike or my love for God? Was it a sense of guilt? I like to think that my action glorified God. In doing this, I showed love to someone. Through out the whole four minute conversation, I never once mentioned God, Jesus, the fact that I was going to church, or even said “Bless you”. Did I really impact Mike at all? Was that opportunity wasted because I didn’t say “Jesus loves you” or casually mention the fact that I was on my way to church?
Any of those things seemed unnatural to the flow of the conversation. It was short. It was shallow. Mike didn’t ask me a single question about myself or my intentions. Would it have cheapened things if I would have thrown out a “Jesus loves you” or a “God bless”? The whole encounter would have seemed so forced to me.
Steve: “Need a ride?”
Mike: “Sure”
Steve: “So, where are you headed?”
Mike: “Toms”
Steve: “That’s cool. I’m headed to church right now”
Mike: “Oh?”
Steve: “Yeah, cuz I love Jesus and all that you know?”
Mike: “That’s nice”
Steve: “Yeah, I only stopped because Jesus told me to”
Mike: “Does Jesus always talk to you? Can I get out of the car now? Seriously, we’re close enough, please slow down. Or at least unlock the doors…”
This post isn’t really leading anywhere. More than anything, I am posing a question. Was it a waste? Should I have tried to slip something in there to let Mike know that I was more than just a friendly neighbor, I was concerned about his eternal soul? Did this impact Mike for Christ at all?
Prayer:
A blister is starting to develop on my middle finger from all this writing! It has been good to take time out and thank each one of you for your input into my life. There is SO much work involved, but it’s been such a blessing. Please pray that I have a VERY productive day tomorrow.
May the God of Peace be With You All!
Steve
