last place... on earth

"And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." -Jesus, Matthew 20:27-28


I have a friend who frequently comes around to help out at church. He never complains about any task. Instead, most of the time he's coming up with all sorts of projects and ideas and things to be done around the facility. He's humorous and loves to talk about scientific things, especially the mechanics of weather. He's just a very friendly and energetic guy.

Did I mention this friend of mine has what one might call a "developmental disability?"

No kidding. And he's not entirely certain just what that "disability" is. It might be autism. It might be something else. He's apparently never been given an official diagnosis. Either way, it's something he has to deal with.

Now some might feel sorry for this friend of mine, having such a condition to contend with. But as I, with my 4.5+ years of college and "above average" I.Q., work with this young man, it's become quite clear to me that he's not the one we need to feel sorry for.

See, nothing is too base for him. There's no job he'll turn down. Pick up garbage in the parking lot? No problem. Put away the letters for the sign out front—the job nobody wants? He's on it. "It's good to stay busy," he says, and happily carries on with his task.

A few months back we decided to spruce up the place for Good Friday and Resurrection Day. As we were organizing the worship center, he decided the balcony glass needed to be cleaned. I told him he didn't have to do that, but he wouldn't hear of it. He said that glass needed to be cleaned, and he was gonna do it up right.

At one point, as I decided to cut him loose and get back to some things I needed to finish, he turned to me and said, "This is good. We're cleaning for God!" (1 Corinthians 10:31 anyone?)

Yeah. He's got it right. All I can say is this guy is way ahead of me when it comes to having a servant's heart. And as I still have a lot to learn, he apparently has plenty to teach—whether he realizes it or not.

Praise the Lord for lessons from the "least likely" sources.


"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."
-1 Corinthians 1:26-28