RAK

            My third and final MAJOR thought I came away from the missions’ trip was that people are curious/suspicious of free.

            Now, I don’t mean the type of free that isn’t really free because of a few strings attached that will come back and bite the person later kind of free. No, I mean literally free.

            One thing I learned about New Yorkers is that they are suspicious of everything and everyone. I personally believe that all Americans can be like that; however, this trait is particularly noticeable in New York.

            A few friends and I went to a street corner and started handing out free coffee and free water. Literally. Now, you would expect lines wrapping around the city full of people who really wanted some free stuff, right? Right?

            Just kidding. People would stare at us like we were aliens. Someone even remarked, “You guys must’ve poisoned that stuff.” People generally ignored us.

            Let me back up a little. The focus of this post wasn’t on those poor mislead (suspicious) people, or even on the American trait of being suspicious of everything. That was more of an observation.

            No, the focus of this post is on the few (curious) people who did stop. Some cocked their heads. Some smiled. They would ask, “What is this all about?” while we would respond, “Nothing much, just serving the community.”

            Random acts of kindness (RAK). That gets to people in a way that nothing else will. We could’ve been doing ANYTHING other than standing out there in the (relative) cold, handing out free stuff. We were being nice for no other reason than wanting to love those around us.

            This should be the mark of the Church as a whole and of the Christian as an individual. Picking up litter, helping nursing homes, ministering to those whom the majority ignores. The Church can and should be a leader in this area.

            Random acts of kindness can break through the hardest of hearts. As someone who is theologically/philosophically minded, that can be hard to admit. While the truth affects some, love affects all*.

            When was the last time you did something nice for someone for no real** reason at all?

*Now, this love will spur people to find out about the truth behind it. However, as an introduction to Christianity, love (RAK) often is more effective than a philosophical conversation.

**By real, I mean with no personal agenda behind it.