The "Doing" Project

In my last email and in class on Sunday, I mentioned something our Life Group is starting and will be working on for the next few months. Our group talked about how for so long we have been talking and discussing and communing and thinking about so many different spiritual disciplines. We have talked about community and the story of Jesus and God's love for everyone until we are blue in the face. But maybe it's time for something different. Maybe actions speak louder than words. Maybe it's time to start doing.

A couple of weeks ago, I challenged our group to come up with ideas on the spot; they had no prior knowledge, no planning and no help from anyone else. In an hour, they came up with more than 30 ideas for service projects, fundraisers, donation ideas, community service, and other missional work that involves time, planning and a general sense of sacrifice. But all of them are imminently doable.

Every Sunday (normally), three people will be heading up a specific project we decide to take on for the week. This past week, our first project was to provide school supplies for kids at Pasadena, Deer Park and Galena Park ISDs who could not otherwise afford them. The response was incredible. The floor in the Benge's living room was filled with spirals and crayons and pencils and glue. We boxed it all up and Angela, Natalie and Kami will be distributing them at their schools over the next few days.

This week, we will be meeting at the church on Sunday night, we'll bring our own dinners and will write letters, notes of encouragement, and cards to the church staff, our elders and to a list of members who have been suffering or who have been sick. If you know anyone who should be on that list, contact Dusty, Cristen or Jason and let them know. These three are putting the lists and supplies together and will handle mailing them out for us.

By no means do I want to limit this project to one Life Group or to one specific group of people. I had people ask me on Sunday "can I donate some supplies?" or "will you take some money and get some more supplies?" Of course. This is for everyone and anyone. If you have a letter or a note you want mailed, give it to one of those three or to me. If you are interested in helping with any of our projects or participating in any of the events (babysitting for young moms, meals at Impact, donations to battered women's shelters, etc.), please let me know. All of your help in this is invaluable and irreplacable.

Hopefully, I can use this blog and the weekly email to keep everyone up-to-date with what we are working on and what specifically we need for that week. Also, you can always ask me and I will be happy to fill you in or point you in the right direction.

You know, ever since this thought came in my head that we should try this, I have wondered why. Why is this being put on my heart? Why is it important to do all of these things?

Is it because we should help others, or because we were instructed to? Well, actually....no.

There are so many examples that can be made out of the analogy of a couple who are romantically, passionately in love (see the last chapter of Don Miller's book, Searching for God Knows What, for a good example). I would like to add one to the list.

I don't have a checklist or rulebook I have to follow to understand how to love my wife. You could never write out any instructions on how I can love her more, or what I should do to make her believe that I love her. She knows it by my life, she knows it by how I treat her, she knows it by what I say, and (most significantly) she knows it by what I do.

I can tell her I love her ten thousand times a day, but it is my actions that back it up. How much I tell her I love her is nothing compared to how much I show her I love her.

If the story of God's love for fallen humans culminated with four gospels worth of God saying over and over again how much he loved us, it would miss the point. Instead, God displayed His love by sacrificing His only Son. He showed us what true love really means.

That is why we do this. We can talk all we want about the things we believe and the people we should be and how much we love the people in the world, but until we show them love, we've done nothing. Jesus said that is how people will know we follow Him (John 13:35).

So, we don't do it because we have to or because we should or because we were told to. We do it because we love.

Ryan