Down The Slide!

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

Last week the nation was transfixed by the JetBlue steward who had enough of his job and made a dramatic exit from the plane and his career. In his side of the story he got fed up with a passenger and once the plane landed he opened the emergency exit, deployed the slide and slid down into infamy. Regardless of whether his side of the story is true or not people rallied around him and cheered his actions. He became a cult hero for his actions. To many he represented the person we would like to be. The person who finally has had enough and then in a dramatic fashion tells the world and makes a difference.

I know that their are many times in my life that I would just love to do the same. Working in a customer service environment I can understand the frustration that he encountered. I can easily say that the majority of calls that I handle are by customers who are angry and want to lash out. It certainly does not matter to them if I am at fault...I represent the company therefore it is me that bears the brunt of their anger. I must admit it can be tiring at times. However I would never dream of just telling a customer off and walking out. That is too far off the spectrum for me.

However there is an attitude called "righteous indignation." That is a feeling that stirs up anger in us and causes a reaction. I like to think of it in the term of going down the slide just like the JetBlue agent. Jesus certainly had one of those moments in the temple when he was angered by the moneychangers and others who were defiling the place of worship. It was probably the one moment in his life that he was most like us. He made his point in a most dramatic way and though people may not have understood his anger he made his point. He often was indignant at the Pharisees who said one thing and did another.

As a child advocate with Compassion my cause is releasing children from poverty in the name of Jesus. I spend weekends as well as other times promoting the message of Compassion and trying to get people to realize the importance of investing in one of these children through sponsorship. The opposite of poverty is not wealth...quite simply it is really just having enough. It is not about giving something to someone....rather it is about enabling them to live like they should. A program that just gives out handouts will never be successful in the long run. However a program that teaches and builds relationships will always work.

Did you realize that if you earned only minimum wage for a 40 hour work week that your annual income would make you among the top 12% of the richest people in the world? Think about that for a minute. You would be in one of the top 12%....just earning the minimum wage. We as a nation are so used to having it all that we are spoiled and afraid of losing what we have. How hard is it to give up a $1.25 a day and make a difference in a child's life. That is really all it costs to sponsor a child and yet people balk at that. This is where my righteous indignation comes to play. I can throw these facts out there and yet people will just shrug and move on. I can testify by my own experience that I have seen the difference that sponsorship makes and I can show you videos of previously sponsored children who are now impacting their communities and people will just smile.

So I challenge you to go down the slide....get angry! Review the facts, do the research. Check out Compassion and any other organizations and do something. Just don't sit there but open the door and take the plunge. If you are interested in hearing more about Compassion or possibly sponsoring a child let me know through this site. I can even make it interesting. If you would like a child from a specific country that Compassion works in or with a specific birthday or something like that let me know and I will do my best to find you that child. There are that many out there. All I ask is that you get up and do something dramatic and make that difference.

Chuck is a Christian husband and father who has served in part-time ministry for 17 years, and is a deacon at his church. He has been a Compassion International Advocate/Area Coordinator for several years, finding families to sponsor Compassion children throughout the world. His passion is letting others know how important it is to release children from poverty. Be sure to check out his blog, Sharing Compassion.