Mat Carriers and Roof Crashers
Several weekends ago, I had the privilege of spending the weekend with about 100 men from Southbrook Church in Charlotte, NC. And this was no ordinary weekend . . . it was one of those rare 70 degree January weekends when I know there were tee times to be had and many other outdoor activities to engage in. Yet this group of men came anyway . . . committed to their church, to each other and to their community.
We spent some time talking about Mark 2:1-5, one of the times Jesus healed a paralytic. Our discussion focused on the main characters of the story, the paralytic man on the mat and the friends who dropped him through the roof, and how unlikely their friendship was to begin with.
Consider the man on the mat . . . he was a social outcast, who spent his life on a 3×6 mat begging for money and food. For all intents and purposes, he was lucky to be alive, as it was common practice in those times to kill newborns born with deformities.
Then consider the four friends . . . at some point they made the hard decision to befriend the man on the mat. This friendship cost them their time, social status, health and much more. Despite all that, when Jesus came to town, they knew it might be the only chance their friend had to be healed . . . physically and spiritually . . . so they crashed their way through a stranger’s roof to get him to the feet of Jesus.
In his book Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them, John Ortberg reminds us that we aren’t much different than the characters in the story. Despite our attempts to put our best selves out there, we all have two things in common: 1) a mat . . . a picture of our brokenness and imperfection and 2) a need for roof crashers in our lives . . . friends with an irrational commitment to each other.
So, knowing we all share those two things, it leads us to two important questions we must ask ourselves. Are we willing to take our relationships to the level of transparency required to bring our mats into full view? And are we willing to be the kind of friends who will drop everything, pick up our friend’s mat’s and crash a roof to get them to Jesus? To do either of those, we first must slow our lives down enough to look up and see opportunities to serve those around us.
As Scott Sauls tweeted the other day, “The call of Jesus on our lives is NOT to deny your neighbor, take up your comfort, and follow your dreams.” Loving God requires loving people. And if we want to create true community, some key ingredients must be present: weakness, acceptance, forgiveness, vulnerability, and trust.
We’re all guilty of image management . . . but we’re also all capable of breaking free from what is expected of us and letting people get to know the real us. Often, someone just has to be willing to go first.
Scripture: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
Mentor Tip: Mentors, know that you are needed. And your willingness to share your life experience with the next generation is critical . . . it’s what they’re looking for. Tell them about the times you picked up your friends’ mats, and when you wish you had somebody there to pick up your mat. And most importantly encourage them to pick up each other’s mats.
PSA: We had a blast hanging out with and speaking to the men of Southbrook Church. If you are interested in bringing someone from the Radical Mentoring team to your next event, we’d love to talk. Check out our speaking page for more info and to start the conversation.
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Responses (3)
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