How a Hot Dog Inspired a Gospel-Partnership
An Inconvenient Mission Assignment
This past week my church sponsored a back-to-school night dinner for a local public elementary school. We fed 200 people hotdogs, chips, and lemonade. I must confess, at first, I was resentful about the whole project. I am right in the middle of moving into a house that is in the middle of a renovation project and my church just lost its office space. Everything has been turned upside down.
My heart wasn’t really in it. But a 3 minute conversation with the assistant principal radically changed my perspective.
Here is one of the lessons I want to share with you. We are called to minister to people, one individual at a time.
After the rush on hot dogs had slowed down, the assistant principal came over to me thanking me for all we had done. As the conversation continued, he began to share with me stories about the children and families who were participating in the dinner.
You see this particular public school has a large population of homeless children. I probed into this to see how they lived. Essentially, these children and their families live in single room hotel efficiencies. They don’t have a yard to run in or neighborhoods in which to play. They live in hotels. Can you imagine?
A Grown Man Crying
The Assistant Principal and I spent some time together talking about the tremendous poverty that many of the children experience. It’s not the kind of poverty we see in other countries but its still nonetheless poverty. As he talked and began to share stories with me, tears began to flow down his cheeks. I could sense from this man a genuine care for the children under him. One family at a time, he pointed out to me different parents striving to give their children the best educations they can.
At that moment, it made me realize how important those hot dogs and chips were and why through God’s providential leading, my little church got involved.
Forging A Gospel-Partnership
By providing hotdogs, chips, and lemonade to those families in need, we created a gospel-partnership with the Assistant Principal. We partnered with him to help him fulfill his mission. Redeemer’s mission and ministry, at that moment, was to the Assistant Principal and not to those families. Yes the families did benefit, but that was not our ministry.
You see Redeemer Anglican Church’s mission statement is based upon a key bible verse — “to seek the peace and prosperity of the city.” Redeemer’s mission is the following: To see the city of Orlando flourish by enjoying God, engaging people, and enriching communities.
What I learned from this hotdog experience is the following: I had thought we were at the school to minister to the families, but I now realize we were at the school to minister to the administration, particularly the assistant principal.
So this is the takeaway: In a world desperate for the light of the gospel, churches must constantly seek ways to build gospel-partnerships with secular institutions.
Does your perspective need readjusting?
