Hands and Feet

Today's blog is brought to you by a throwback to an oldish song. Just old enough to not be cool any more but not old enough to be retro. I think it came out in the early 2000s.

"I wanna be your hands. I wanna be your feet. I'll go where you send me. Go where you send me."

I was sitting in line at Sonic this morning. I was greated by the voice of an employee who was either really tired or had already had a bad morning. It was easily detected in her voice and written on her face. After I got my breakfast, I made an effort to smile real nicely at her and tell her to have a great day!

And I started singing this song.

And realized the chorus itself sure places a lot of emphasis on people being God's hands and feet in missions. Being willing to go to far away places and be Jesus to people who need that, but nothing (at least not in the chorus) about being his hands and feet right where you are. Jesus hasn't called all of us to go to other countries, but he sure has called us all to represent him right where we are. To hug the ones He wants to hug, to pray for the person in the next office, and to be a light in the darkness that surrounds our daily existence.

I'm not at all putting down missions. We support many missionaries and missions trips all the time when asked, because that is also a part of what God has called us to do. But that isn't all. Yes, Mark 16:15, the most quoted missions verse, tells us to go into all the world, but your neighborhood is a part of the world too. Your work place needs some light. Your kids' school needs some light. Your grocery store needs some light. Your Walmart needs some light. (Can I get an amen?)

So get out of what is comfortable, move past that, to the place where you are aware of the people around you. The place where you notice needs. Where you show Jesus-like compassion to the hurting. Where you become a friend of the friendless. Where you are a living breathing representation of Jesus everywhere you go. And not just when you get off of an airplane in another country.