Put Your Oxygen Mask on Before Helping Others

Those words sound so selfish....on the surface.  But have profound meaning and significance when you consider the long-term impact for your own self-care and the care of others

Many in the HELPING and MINISTRY profession need to heed the words, "put your mask on first." Implied in this statement is, "you can't help others until you help yourself." You will be unable to care for others unless you care for yourself.

Self-care requires you to care for your physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually self -"put on my mask first"-before I try to minister to the needs of those around me.  You will have to fight for this because by nature you will want to put the oxygen mask on others before you put your own mask on for the day, week, month and year.

I would offer the following encouragement:

1. Start with Sabbath - God has built into creation a natural rhythm for work and rest. Claim it. Enjoy it. Obey it.  It is a grace gift.

2.  Develop a plan to care for your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual self. Start simply.  Set simple achievable goals to help you in each of these areas.  Find a coach to help you if you are having trouble.

3.  Live an INTERESTING LIFE apart from your work, ministry, church, church plant, etc. This is SO IMPORTANT. This can protect you from many unethical situations.

Jesus gave us this simple relational command in the GOSPELS: Love God-with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength-AND love your neighbor as yourself.  You will only see the value of "putting your mask on first" when you see it as the most loving thing you can do to be a "good loving neighbor" and a whole, holy, healthy follower of Jesus.

Grace and Peace

This is the only way to do discipleship

JESUS way!

JESUS would show people.

JESUS would share stories with people.

JESUS would let people.

Jesus discipled around loving God.

Jesus discipled around loving others.

Jesus disciples around loving self.

What is your definition of making a disciple? Does it look like Jesus way? 

Who is My Neighbor?

Jesus said, "LOVE your neighbor as you love yourself."

He doesn't give us a list of prohibitive actions which void this command (i.e. If we "catch" our neighbor in non-Christlike behavior, this command is void).  He says love them.  Serve them.  He says, "let your light shine before them in such a way they see your good work and glorify ME in heaven."

Jesus loved societies unlovable.  Jesus affiliated with sexual deviants, lepers, thieves, the marginalized, the outcast, etc., etc. (and, such were some of you the Bible reminds us).

Jesus would even go out of his way (travel through Samaria a place and people hated by his brothers) to love his neighbor.  Actually, he left heaven to come and live among ALL of us.  He became our neighbor.  He loved us.  He made a way for us to be reconciled and restored to the Father.

If we rationalize who we can love and who we can't love, we become just like the Pharisees in the N.T. And, when I read about them, it saddens me.

So church, who is your neighbor?  It is probably the person who lives next door or across the street. How do we need to act more neighborly in these days?

Holding Evil in Check

In organizations, in new churches, it is easy to forget some simple biblical truths. God always seems to use the weak to do great things. He often chooses to use the simple to display his power. As I sit here tonight watching the Hobbit, I am struck by this quote from Tolkien,

Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Gandalf”

How does God hold evil in check? It is in SMALL....EVERYDAY....DEEDS.....OF....ORDINARY.....FOLK.

Small acts of KINDNESS. Small acts of LOVE.

If you are an organization, it may not be the person on the top of the organizational pyramid who provides the greatest growth opportunity for the company. It may not be the Pastor's great sermons who holds the key to the transformation to the city.

For the company achieving growth, it could be the checker at the checkout stand, giving a simple smile who provides the customer satisfaction which brings the customer back, again-and-again. In the city, it may be the ordinary follower of Jesus simple act of loving their neighbor which advances the Kingdom of God.

We must be careful, as organizations and as churches, what we invest in as we seek to hold evil in check. Don't overlook the ordinary folk - the ordinary followers of Jesus. They hold the key. Free them. Release them. Empower them. Trust them. Encourage them. Be grateful for them.

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