"don't worry about me"

I'm not the one you should be talking to. You see those guys over there? They need to be talked to. I go to Bible study every week, there ain't no one like me down here. No one.

Above is a brief snippet of my conversation with a homeless brother named Will from Tuesday's outing. When interacting with the homeless community, "don't preach to me" is one of the more common responses I get. But, I've rarely heard "you should go talk to them, they're the hopeless ones, not me."

Throughout our conversation, I tried my best to not judge him, but everything from the alcohol in his breath to the crudeness of his language kept me from believing what Will was saying about himself. However, as the discussion continued, with Will steadily refusing to talk about anything spiritual, I began to see much of myself in Will.

I was reminded of how averse to instruction I had been in the past and how much I still struggle today. I was reminded that my default response to criticism is to point at others and say "at least I'm not that bad." As Christians, we are miles apart from Jesus' example and a humble heart is a must if we are to ever receive instruction and draw closer to Christ. Brothers and sisters in Diakonos, let's all pray for a more teachable heart as we continue serving in this ministry.