The Ballad of Ray

Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Ray...

Ray is a student at WMU. I met him a few weeks ago in the Threads parking lot.

He hit my car.

He was pulling out a bit carelessly and dinged our front driver-side wheel well with his bumper. He was very apologetic, not at all wishing to get out of his responsibility. We exchanged numbers and parted ways. The next day I took the car into the body shop for an estimate.

$850.

Now if you take a look at my car, you will see a dent where Ray hit it, but it's the type of thing that if you don't know it's there, you may not even notice. It's insignificant. But it costs $850 to get it fixed.

I talked to Ray and told him the bad news. He called me back the next day, wanting to pay cash instead of going through insurance. I don't have any problem cutting the insurance companies out of the loop, but paying $850 cash for something this insignificant? This made me stop and think.

Michelle & I thought and prayed over the situation the next few days. $850 is a lot of money. There are a lot of people that could use that money for a lot more important things than fixing some cosmetic damage to an 8 year old car. People that have significant needs. Christ Followers in China who need Bibles. Children dying in Africa. People on the North Side of Kalamazoo who have to choose between heat and food in the winter.

We talked to Ray last night. We told him that we believed in the concept of stewardship, that we need to take care of everything God gives us. But that concept also extends to others. It would be foolish and hypocritical for us to think that fixing that damage wasn't worth $850 of our money, but it was worth $850 of his money.

So we forgave him.

We told him he didn't owe us anything.

We didn't stop there, though. We explained why we were doing it. How we feel there are so many better uses for that money, so many people who need it more. We told him he didn't owe us anything, but it would be great if he would want to take some of that money he was planning to give us and use it to help someone that needs it a lot more.

His eyes lit up and he just beamed. The idea of not having to pay us the $850 was just starting to sink in and this idea really resonated with him. He said he'd been wanting to give money to the Gospel Mission for a while, but couldn't figure out how - this is how.

So we spend some time talking over different charitable options: the Gospel Mission, Bibles Unbound, Worldvision, the North Side building project. He left filled with gratitude and hope, telling us he'd pray over the decision and get back with us in a couple days.

We live in such a bubble of prosperity that it's sometimes hard for us to see the options we have for giving that are right under our noses. Our budget is tight, our credit cards maxed out, and the mortgage is due next week. Where is there possibly room for giving?

I want to encourage you to move towards a simple life. What can you do to get by on less? How can you take that next step towards being the others-centered Christ Follower God wants you to be? Where can you find the resources to give?

Maybe you have some old movies, tools, jewelry or musical equipment that you don't need any more - sell them! Maybe you don't really need the Platinum package for your cell phone or cable TV, or you don't need to eat out or go to movies quite as often - cut back!

Or maybe someone will hit your car in the Threads parking lot next week.

The possibilities are endless. We have the resources, we just need to truly embrace what it means to use them to follow Christ. What is your next step?