Are you Christian?

"No. I’m Nick".

I swear that conversation happened today. Poor Nick thought the guy was asking him if he was his brother. Nope. Just good old Nick. The fellow asking the question was someone I met today for the first time. Michael. Now Michael was in a pretty bad state. Obviously he had been drinking quite heavily. I never even saw him until we were wrapping things up this afternoon. And I have to be honest, lots of times when I’m approached by a guy who has obviously had too much to drink, especially in the park on Sunday, I probably get a little standoffish. I don’t really mean to, it’s just so difficult to have any kind of meaningful conversation with a guy when he’s in that state. So I had a very brief conversation with Michael and was on to loading the trailer and getting things wrapped up. Things to do and places to be…or so I thought. Someone Else had a different idea. So then I see Michael talking to Robin. Don’t know the crux of that conversation, just that they were having one. And then I see him bent down talking to Nick. So I gently insert myself into that conversation. So he was asking Nick if he was Christian. And after a bit of confusion, Nick cleared the air for Michael. Told him "oh yeah, I’m A Christian. I’m just not my brother". And then Michael and I started talking. And he started crying. And the pain in his eyes was immense. The hurt was so evident. And he was really loaded. So I asked him if I could take him to detox. He said he wanted to change. You could tell he wanted it. He just wasn’t ready for it. Have to be ready to make that happen. So he declined my offer to take him. I was so ready to take him right then and there.

So he seemed to be enamored by Nick. I mean, who isn’t? The kid is just pretty genuine. I know I’m biased, but what can I say? So Nick, Michael and me were at the back of the van in a conversation and Michael told me how his boys, Jeremiah and Matthew were killed in a car wreck almost 20 years ago. The pain was so real as he spoke. It was so intense. He told me of the car wreck that took the lives of his boys. I asked him a couple of hard questions. He mentioned, as lots of us do, that his boys were in heaven. So my question was would they really look down and appreciate what was happening to their father? I wasn’t trying to be harsh, but I see so many guys down there that have such severe addictions and I’m just getting to the point that I want to be a little more bold and maybe a little more blunt. So he cried a little harder and said he didn’t think so. Me either. I just think this is yet another way that a guy ends up in this situation. I mean I can’t imagine losing my family in that way. And to be there when it happened. He said he wasn’t driving. A buddy was, but apparently Michael was in the car. So he saw his boys lose their life…

He came over to me a few minutes later, after talking to Nick again I believe and told me something. I couldn't understand him at first and then he said it again. He said to play football with my son. I smiled, because it’s something I don’t do enough. To take time for the simple things. Because they can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. And he spent a few minutes giving the Nickster a bit of unsolicited advice. Pointed to me and told Nick to always do what I told him. Hey, this is good stuff! Told him that it’s important to always do what your dad tells you and to listen to everything he says. Michael’s kids were taken from him for unknown reasons. That’s always a tough one because there are always more questions than answers. Something similar happened to me 10 years ago. My oldest sister was taken from us and she hadn’t even quite reached 40. Why? No answers….

So as we left, Michael, who we’d never met before today, told us he loved us. We told him the same. That’s how it works. Or it should be how it works anyway. I saw a window sticker on the back of a great friend’s car recently. It simply said Love Wins. I believe it. I saw it in Michael’s eyes today. Through the hurt and intense pain, I saw a glimmer of love. It’s in there. We just have to be there to see it, to nurture it, to share it. I hope I see Michael again next week. I pray that I do. I’d love to talk with him some more. I’d love to love him just a little more. I’d love to see Nick throw a little love his way…

One last thing. We had a chance this morning to speak to a small gathering of people at River of Life church here in Omaha. It was a good chance for me to dig back and remember why God has us on this journey. Logistically, it was a little tough, but we made it work and got downtown right at our normal time. River of Life is a missional church and I believe that the goal for us being there was to share what happens and what can happen if we are willing to take a step out in faith and see what amazing things God will do with us when we do. It was an opportunity to share with a group of people that there doesn’t have to be a bunch of meetings, a ton of planning, the formation of a board to oversee or any of that stuff. There simply has to be a willingness to obey and step out and follow. And when we do, the results can be fairly spectacular. We spent about 45 minutes sharing the story of how God is using us in the downtown community. It was probably the fastest 45 minutes ever for Robin and me. We could have gone on for hours. Hopefully, our words were His words and they conveyed the message. The message that God will use us wherever we are if we are simply willing to listen and go. And maybe go loudly. Because that works too. :)

Michael quoted Romans 5:8 to me several times. I’ll end with that, as it speaks profoundly to God’s unconditional love and grace…

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)