In high school, I went on a week-long backpacking trip with a group of people from the youth group at the church I attended. I had grown up in church, knew all the correct answers to the questions, and figured I could coast my way through the spiritual part of the trip. At that point, faith was just something I did because it was a part of my family’s values. My identity was wrapped up in other things. I went on the trip just because I loved the outdoors. However, on that trip, I truly met God for the first time. Perhaps more appropriately, God met me. As I was sitting alone in the woods under a tree, my idolatry of the self became crystal clear to me. I intimately understood my deep need for God. Everything changed for me that day. As a result, I began to question how to live out this newfound faith. It became concrete for me when I saw it lived out uniquely.
It was the last night of our trip, and after five days of hiking, a group of teenagers develop a particular smell. After a full day of hiking, we got to our campsite for the evening and took off our packs. When I turned around, I saw that our guides had pulled out small wash tubs with soap and rags. They invited each of us forward as they washed our gross, smelly feet individually. I felt uncomfortable with the idea, so I went last. I even tried to argue my way out of it, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. At that moment, I began to understand what it meant to follow Jesus. In a concrete way, I understood that to live as a disciple of Jesus meant being willing to serve selflessly. It meant that in situations where everyone else would turn and walk the other way because of the mess, disciples of Jesus were called to draw near to the mess. These guides modeled that for me in a small but significant way that day. Let us look for ways to draw near to the messiness of everyday life in small ways this week.