#elsalvador

“We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also ourselves.” -1 Thessalonians 2:8

Once upon a time, I was sitting on the steps of a soccer field, trying unsuccessfully to get two young women to open up to me about their lives, the absolute mess that our bible study was in, and the reasons behind their jealousy of a couple other girls in the community. They suspiciously gave me meaningless answers and turned up the music so I couldn’t ask anymore questions. 

But I was a woman on a mission  

….or rather three separate staff members told me in no uncertain terms that someone needed to talk to those girls and it had to be a girl who spoke Spanish (literally only me). Also I was pretty sure God was calling me to do so as well.  

So it was a bit of a forced mission but I was no less determined for it. 

As the beginning of the conversation wasn’t going well, I decided to start praying that God would soften their hearts towards me. And then he spoke to me: “How are they supposed to be open to you when you haven’t been vulnerable with them?” 

That’s the mentality we often have when we try to love and minister to others. We expect people to trust us without giving up any part of ourselves to them. Yes, we can tell them that we’re trustworthy and that we believe in God, but if we don’t sacrifice our own comfort zones, can we truly become frustrated when the other person seems unwilling to open up and discuss life with us? 

In 2 Thessalonians, Paul tells the church of the Thessalonians that he, Silvanus, and Timothy loved them enough to share the gospel, but also to share their own lives. This is true community- sharing God and sharing ourselves, and that has a price. Sharing ourselves is scary; it means being weak, and being honest, and trusting others. Not too comfortable an idea. 

So here’s the end of that story on the steps of a make-shift soccer field: 

God asked me what I was willing to give up to follow him, and I said everything. 

“Let’s make a deal,” I told the girls. “You can ask me anything you want and if I answer honestly, then I get to ask you a question in return.” 

You can assume that they started with the most personal question that could. When I answered honestly, they were so shocked they forgot that only 30 seconds ago they hadn’t trusted me. It was a dangerous game, but I was prepared to pay the price to build community. That game was the start of a 3-4 hour conversation that was centered on real struggle and real questions about God. It was worth every secret I had to give away. It was not only the first time those girls were honest with me, but it was also the first time that they had ever wanted to be. It was a 180 degree change in those relationships, and as a result, my ministry. They changed my heart and I hope I showed them real love in return.  

So you want to do discipleship, ministry, mission work, community building, activism, etc. Be genuine. Be authentic. Be honest. Be vulnerable. Be trustworthy. Be smart. Be faithful. Be ready to give it all. 

-31Women (Beth) 

This post is 2/2, you can find the first “The Price of Unity” here