Day 11: Mirroring the Mind of Christ
If you’ve joined our 40 days with Jesus challenge, then you might have read Day 11: Mirroring the Mind of Christ from Pastor Troy Fitzgerald’s book, “Forty Days Wild.” Here is an excerpt from Day 11 that really touched me:
“Lunchtime. Outside of recess and P.E., there are few competing highlights of the school day. I was visiting my wife while she worked on developing a remedial program for students. I found myself spending lunchtime in the first grade. I enjoyed watching the students rustle around the classroom with their lunch pails and small boxes of milk. I noticed one boy with bright red curly hair who remained in his seat while everyone else busied themselves with food.
My heart sank into my stomach as someone announced out loud what was obvious to anyone watching, “Billy doesn’t have a lunch.”
At first I thought the remark was cruel. Before I could react, the room full of students scurried into action. What I saw seared the most beautiful image of community into my mind. Each student began breaking off pieces of their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and placed them on a tray that was being passed around the room. I never saw who started the tray. Bags of chips popped open and littered the brown plastic cafeteria tray with samples of every flavor known to first graders across the land. The tray was loaded with a half of a banana, also what seemed to be tons of carrots and celery, and a bounty of cookies broken in half. As the tray filled with food was set before the hungry lad, a grin crept shyly across his sweet, freckled face. Embarrassed? A little. Tickled to death at the feast fit for five first graders looming before him like a small mountain? No question about it.
Actually, I had many questions. Who started the tray? When did they learn to do this? Why didn’t I forget my lunch? I asked the teacher, “Where did they learn to do this?” He smiled, “It happened a few years back when one of my students shared his lunch with anyone who forgot theirs. Everyone joined in and then it just became kind of an unspoken rule in the classroom. When someone forgets a lunch, everyone helps.” I was stunned by the simple way the kids created community in their classroom.
The problem with wanting a servant’s heart is that some people hope for an instantaneous transplant when the work of heart transformation is gradual. They pray, “Lord, just help me to be nice to that mean person.” The answer to that prayer may be an awkward encounter where they have the opportunity to practice being nice when they feel like being mean. The road to change is not paved by tickling sensations down your spine as much as it is hard work. Again, remember the words of the Master Teacher, “…anyone who is rightly trained will become like the teacher.” (Luke 6:40)
Some have a gift for feeling the needs of others, but having the gift doesn’t necessarily mean they have a “servant’s heart.” The discipline of following through on the little things shapes the contours of the heart, fashioning it into the likeness of Christ. The more they are open to the shaping process, the less they feel inconvenienced by the needs of others.
Challenge
Try serving someone in a way that takes a little planning. Instead of a serendipitous event, premeditate an act of grace for someone in the name of Christ. Share your thoughts and feelings on the topic of personal growth and how hard it is to have a servant’s heart. What do you struggle with most? What moments in your journey affirm a servant’s heart in your life?
Blessed? There’s more! Contact Jinha if you’d like to join the 40 Days with Jesus challenge!
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by: Jinha Kim
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14