Lancaster Avenue

There is a street near downtown Fort Worth called Lancaster Avenue. Most everybody in Fort Worth knows about this particular street. In one area the street is lined with homeless shelters and resource centers. When Mike and I first moved to Fort Worth we drove through this area and were overwhelmed with the amount of people we saw huddled at the doors of these shelters with all their belongings stuffed in black garbage bags. This overwhelmed feeling, turned to burden, that eventually turned into action. 

A couple in our launch team connected us with a woman named Marcia who has been serving in this area for many years now. She usually takes young people out to hand out pizza and tube socks to anyone who will take them. She also makes a point to have real conversations with these people about what is important to them. She is enthralling to watch. She asks them questions, holds their hands, prays for them, understands them. She gives those without homes dignity and points them to Christ. She says, "They are just people who are down on their luck...just people like us." 

One of my biggest fears in ministry is the inability to relate. I fear this more than speaking or even leading. Sometimes those in need have tragic stories and overwhelming experiences that they cope with every day. Sometimes those in need live in the cold and only think about survival. Sometimes those in need had no choice within their circumstances. They were betrayed, abandoned, broken, and forgotten. So when a person says, "What right have you to tell me anything. You don't know what I've been through." I would have to say, "You're right. I don't know." Conversation over. How effective was that... This is the ultimate call out...This is scary to me. 

I have to be honest and say that sometimes this fear has caused me to close my eyes and turn the other way. But this is the greatest tragedy of all. 

I am coming to understand that feeling like I can't relate to those in need is not a good enough excuse. 



It. Is. Not. Good. Enough. This excuse is for those who choose to be blind. 

I am coming to understand that all people relate because they are people. It is the circumstances and the experiences that may not be the same. I could have ended up under a bridge, or waiting to get into a shelter just like the next guy. We are people, we make decisions, we make mistakes, and things just happen. We are all in need.   

I was praying about this insecurity this past week and was convicted when I felt the Lord ask me this question: What would have happened to us if God would have said, "I don't think I will pursue humanity because I just don't really relate to them." 

God loved then pursued. 

For God so loved the world that He gave...

This brings great hope and freedom for those who feel locked in insecurity. 

We have the freedom to believe we aren't better than anyone. 

This means that if you love Christ, if you are burdened for those in need, if you love others, if you feel the call....this is all you need. 

This past Sunday Marcia took our launch team out to pass out pizza and care packages we had assembled earlier in the month. We followed her under bridges, up and down Lancaster, and into some of their homeless camps. It was pouring rain and freezing and exhilarating and real and we were happy. We were changing, we were relevant, we were like Jesus. 

We are loved. We love. We pursue.