Epworth United Methodist Student Ministries

Students With A Task  

Service Worship Accountability Teamwork

Lisa ----

        Following Jesus is like a Big Brother or Big Sister !

Following Jesus is like having an older sibling.

For those of you who only know my parents, Ken and Laura, I also have an older brother and an older sister. My older brother, Bart is 21 years old and currently attends the University of Toledo. Bart is quite the artist of the family and has an unusual, but hilarious sense of humor. My sister, Sarah, is 23 years old and lives in Cincinnati which isn’t easy on any of us but we’re very proud of her. Sarah has always been the high-strung and opinionated one, but I have always valued those opinions. These wonderful attributes of both my brother and sister have caused me to realize that brotherly love is a funny thing. Though many automatically assume brotherly love indicates an always accepting and happy type of love, they might not want to be so quick to assume. Brotherly, or sisterly, love in my household is not always all what its cracked up to be. Or at least maybe you can be the judge.

 Even though my brother and sister put me through all kinds of fun (SARCASM!) when I was younger, I was always aware of the loving side of both of them. Sarah was more motherly and I knew I could count on her to take care of me and give good advice (if not too much good advice). Bart, though he and I had more than one scuffle, was always very protective as a big brother and would never fail to tell me the truth. And, though I knew I could depend on both my older brother and sister for about anything, I rarely used this vice. For example, though I could have asked both my siblings for advice before starting high school, I decided that I would tough it out. I somehow thought that I knew best about something both of them had already completed.

Just as I chose to take a harder road and depend solely on myself, we often choose to act this way with our relationship with Christ, don’t we? We feel God doesn’t and couldn’t possibly understand. Or perhaps we’re just too focused on ourselves and not on Him or others. I regret all the times I could have asked for help from my siblings, realizing now that I would have been much better off. Even more so, however, I regret the times I turned away from Christ and went my own way. It seems much clearer to me now that ignoring Jesus’s wishes was just as difficult, perhaps more, as blazing my own trail.

 I’ve lately learned that one of the main components of these wishes is one stated in Romans. Loving others is just as essential as loving Christ, and even more important than loving yourself. As my brother used to say, and sadly still finds reason to remind me, “the world doesn’t revolve around you, Lisa!” I think we, as Christians, need to take this to heart. The world, sadly enough, doesn’t revolve around us. Bummer, I know. 

But maybe this is a good thing.  Jesus taught us over and over that life is about helping and serving others. He taught us to put Him first and others second.  By sharing Christ’s love with the world, we make the world a happier place and spread God’s word as well. Aren’t people supposed to be able to tell we’re Christian by our love for others?  

Now I’m not suggesting we give soup kitchens baskets of Panera goodies simply to show off our love. Because it’s not     about     showing    off our love. There are much simpler ways than this, and though the standard opening of doors for others and the carrying of someone’s grocery bags to his car is good to do,  making statements by our actions is even more important. Actions do speak louder than our words. Let me give you an example: Say you hear your tennis partner slighting his neighbor’s poor upkeep of his grass, what does agreeing show him?

But disagreeing or choosing to ignore this insult makes it clear your opinions of such gossip. You’re not showing your partner any disrespect and you still maintain your Christian integrity.

Well. Let’s just say you don’t have this tennis partner with which to converse about grass, or any other sports team of that matter of whom you can gossip with. There are still many opportunities to act dis-accordingly with Christ’s teachings. And sadly, it seems that we, as Christians, get a pretty bad rep for judging others. I believe it’s called hypocrisy… But is there nothing we can do about this? OF COURSE NOT! No, oh but there is so much we can do about it. We can stop preoccupying ourselves with the superficiality of appearances. But this seems too obvious and trite doesn’t it? Perhaps simply complimenting a classmate’s skirt that she seems unsure about would do the trick. Or maybe instead of giving a weird look to an oddly dressed person, you give a smile and a little chuckle to yourself at the crazy fashions these days. Perhaps you simply give a depressed-looking co-worker a reassuring look and a quick, “have a great day today!” Jesus not only told us to love our neighbor as ourself, but to love the least of these as well. As for me, I know I don’t do this all the time, but I’m beginning to learn how important it is to become better at it.

 Though my brother and sister might not have always shown me such steadfast beliefs in not judging others, they did teach me the importance of loving others as they loved me. They also taught me to focus not only less on myself, but least on myself, reserving such regards for others. Christ teaches us a similar message: though you should always care for yourself, caring for others is of the greatest privilege, as is caring for Him. Depending on Christ is as essential as allowing others to depend on you. We know in today’s world this is not easy but we also know this is one of the most important messages that Jesus taught. So, if you weren’t here tomorrow, what would your brother or sister or spouse or neighbor or classmate or co-worker remember about you? Might they say you were loving, compassionate, or generous? Or would they say you were privileged yet idle, selfish or possibly just apathetic?

As for me, I hope they remembered me for my love and compassion for others, above all else. I hope they think that, following Jesus for me, was like having an older sibling to always depend on. Because I’m beginning to find that that would be enough.