On Sunday, we went to Mosaic. Erwin McManus said, "It's not that God needs us to give Him everything, it's that we need to give Him everything so that we will not be owned by anything." At the end of his talk, he said:"Most of us here have more shoes than we have feet. But there are some people who have more feet than they have shoes.... I'm wearing my most comfortable shoes and I'm going to take them off and give them to someone who needs them more than I do. I invite you to do the same."
Honestly, my first instinct was to look down at our feet and think, "We weren't prepared for this!I wish Jeff wouldn't have worn those shoes...those are his favorite flip flops. I don't want him to give those up." But I was so convicted about even having those thoughts. Why wouldn't we give up our shoes so that someone else who has NOTHING might have something to wear?!
So, hundreds of people filed up and we all took off our shoes and walked out of the church barefoot. It was such a beautiful thing to see a huge pile of shoes all lined up on the stage. We found out they were donating them to homeless people all over L.A. Who knows, maybe this summer we'll run into a homeless person wearing our sandals. That would make me smile.
I want to live a life of sacrifice... "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10
May we be people who sacrifice so we are not owned by anything.
5 comments:
That is a very powerful story.
What a potent message. Its not a message about giving--obviously, you could have done that later in the week, you could have given carefully selected shoes to a charity after this conviction that there are people who do without shoes, etc. As you learned, its about, "can I be spontaneous and sacrificial in my giving for the sake of others, or am I more petty and materialistic than I care to admit?" Wow, what a challenge, Ade. Thanks.
Adienne, wow, everyone took off their shoes. that's awesome.
Thanks for sharing from your heart, Ade!! I'm always blessed and challenged when I read your blog!!!
I pray God continues to be so evident in your life and that your love for him just keeps pouring out... thanks for your honesty too.
~Love to the fam from your friends on the other coast. =)
I did a bit more closet cleaning once I got back. What a message. What a way of life!
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