Extra Mile part 1
Have you ever noticed how we always seem to kind of "want" to be better people... but only if it's not super inconvenient? Even when we talk about empathy we say things like, "Walk a mile in their shoes." Which, don't get me wrong, is awesome. I think if someone WANTS to make someone else happy that's half the battle right there. Looking at things from someone else's point of view is one of the most powerful things you can do. But we always limit our exposure. Like we're afraid to be vulnerable. Afraid to put ourselves out there. We MIGHT walk a mile in someone else's shoes, but we miss out on what comes AFTER that mile. Jesus said it like this, "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain" (Matthew 5:41). Turn the other cheek. If someone wants your coat, give them your shirt too. Go the extra mile. And look at it in the Message Bible, "And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life." I think this attitude is sorely missing in the church world. For some reason we have taken the stance of, "I'm right and you're wrong and until you agree with me we have nothing to talk about!" We've made the church into member's only clubs. Built walls where we should have been building bridges. We don't go the extra mile for anybody, and in fact we try to make people jump through hoops for us! That's so far off the more excellent way that it's almost unrecognizable. And, listen, I get it. Once you get burned you're a little shy when it comes to touching the fire again. When you continually put yourself out there and continually get slapped down it gets harder and harder to keep putting yourself out there. But if you read the next verse in Matthew in the Message Bible (verse 42) you see this, "No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously." I saw a quote the other day that said, "Nobody ever went broke by being generous." And I believe it. The more you give... the more you HAVE to give. God blesses us to be a blessing. So when I'm talking about going the extra mile I'm not talking about killing myself. Or driving myself into debt, or anything like that. I'm talking about living out of abundance. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. And in order to have it... we have to give it. We have to share what we've got. Again, not going crazy trying to do stuff you're not supposed to do or get stuff you're not supposed to have. Let me say it like this, "...He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise" (Luke 3:11). It's never about what you don't have. It's about what you DO have. It's about what's inside coming out. That's how you're CAPABLE of going the extra mile, and that's HOW you go the extra mile. Just go above and beyond. Lay your life down for your friends. Give what you've got. And when you give what you've got--I'm telling you--you'll find that it never runs out. You'll find that you've been filled to overflowing. That you're connected to an unlimited source. You walk a mile in someone's shoes, and then you go the extra mile. And then you find that you don't WANT to stop. You want to keep going, and going, and going. Like the Energizer Bunny you won't stop because you can't stop! You don't want to stop. The love inside feeds on itself and grows, and grows, and grows until it's too big (and too good) to keep to yourself!