I am training for the
Run 4 Healthy Churches and my running goal last Saturday was four miles. I
realized three miles in that I was not going to put in four that day.
One of the things that
really irritates Lou Ann and me is that many who drive through our neighborhood
throw trash on our streets. Not into a trash can. On our streets.
I stopped after three
miles and picked up some trash. Sometimes you have to pick up the
trash.
What would our
communities look like if we all stopped to pick up some trash? What would
our churches look like if we volunteered for things no one wants to do?
But you say,
"That's not my job." Picking up trash is one of those things that
is no one's job, and our streets look like it.
Some may think I am
using the term "trash" a little too liberally. By trash I mean
to those things no one is responsible for, that no one wants to do.
Picking up trash may
literally include policing your church property or in your neighborhood. It may
also include those things no one does at church, that no one volunteers for.
Can you imagine your
Pastor's response, or the Trustees, if you volunteered to pick up some trash at
church? If you volunteered to do something that isn't your job?
I encourage you to pick
up some trash. It is good for your soul. Sometimes it just feels good to do
something that isn't your job, that you aren't responsible for. Things
will look a little bit better afterward and you will also feel better.
Picking up some trash
will do that.
