Short Arm Sean

This past weekend I had the chance, along with my youth ministry, to participate in a city-wide event called Love Wichita. This is where area churches partner to volunteer and complete various community service projects.

Our group started by helping with a clean-up project in the Plainview area of the city. Our students jumped on trash trucks, filling them to capacity with items that area residents had set curbside to be disposed of. Other student headed to vacant lots to pick up trash or help load tires be hauled away. The afternoon saw us shift locations to either planting trees and shrubs at a local elementary school or help with painting and landscaping at a home.

After a long day of work we felt good about what had been accomplished and there was a sense of pride about helping those in need. While this day was a great exposure to serving the ones who need it, I am thinking not about what we did, but about what we should do. Was this it? Is this really what it means to be a Christian - a once a year foray into helping our neighbors? If this is all we do, then I would say it was fairly pointless. To me, the challenge is to not pat ourselves on the back having done our Christian duty. The real struggle is to take what was experienced and to realize that those needs still exist today and tomorrow and will continue to be there. I believe that we now have an obligation to continue to love Wichita with our time, energy, service and resources everyday. We can no longer claim ignorance.