Remember growing-up and having to use ice trays if you wanted ice? It was those plastic things with little compartments that you’d fill with water, put them in the freezer, then in a couple hours... Bam! Ice cubes. It’s different now. Now, we pretty much have ice on demand with automatic ice makers already built into our freezers. Gotta love technology: )
Well, here in Brazil, we’re kickin’ it old school. We don’t have an automatic ice maker in our freezer, we have ice trays. Yes, we’ve taken a step back in time and we have to make our own ice now. But, it’s really not that bad. That is, if everyone would contribute by filling them back up! Why is it that people (in my family) get ice out of the ice bin (where we dump our ice trays), see that it’s almost empty (or empty), but then neglect to dump the trays? Why not dump them and re-fill them so that another batch is getting ready for the next person? Is that so hard? It literally can be done on about 2 1/2 minutes. I mean, come on, we only have 6 ice trays! And now somebody has a new ice-tray-slacker-move... it’s where they’ll only dump one tray (because they’re only thinking about themselves, obviously) and then fill it up and put it back. What’s going on? Why are they only thinking about themselves? What about the next person who comes to the refrigerator looking for something to cool their beverage off with? I mean, their drink is warm too and all they’re gonna want is a little drop of frozen goodness (aka, an ice cube), but NO! There won’t be any there because you didn’t want to take a couple of minutes and re-fill the trays. Why not just dump all of them and fill em’ back up so that ice can be had by everyone?
I’m gonna find out who’s doing it too. I’m officially launching my own investigation. And “I pity the fool” (said with my best Mr. T voice) when I find out who they are: )
As frustrating as this is, it’s not something that has any eternal significance though. It’s really not that big of a deal in light of eternity (but it does give me something to complain about). But while I’m on the subject of people leaving things (negatively) that effect the next person who comes in behind them... what about people who say their christians and leave messes behind them? You know what I mean, right? It’s like when somebody tells everybody at work that they’re a christian then they have some sort of meltdown and end up leaving a huge mess that the next “christian” will have to clean up behind them. Or the guy at school who says their a christian and then they loose it ______________ (morally, emotionally, just fill in the blank) and end up leaving a negative impression on everyone who they left in their wake. You’ve seen it before, right? But let me take it a step further. What about the person in ministry that serves in some type of ministry capacity that only thinks about themselves. They serve faithfully for “x” amount of years somewhere (either in a church, in a ministry organization, on the mission field, etc.) and then something happens and they decide it’s time to leave. They either feel called out or they’re just tired of their current position so they’re leaving. But how are they leaving it for the next guy (or gal)? Is it gonna be a mess that’s gonna consume a huge amount of time for the next person to wade through before they can really begin ministry? Or is it gonna be a smooth transition and something that’s seamless? I’ve seen it in the secular workplace and in the ministry and it’s frustrating when somebody blows-up years of great work as they exit.
As difficult as some of my own positions (secular and ministry) have been and as much potential drama as there’s been when I’ve had to transition out, I was always consciences of the next guy. It was something that’s always been important to me. Am I perfect? No way. Actually I can be a jerk sometimes (or a lot of times depending on who you ask). But in spite of that, I always tried to think about the person who was coming in and of what I was leaving behind (because people will always remember you for what you did last). Everybody leaves something behind. Everybody. You’ll either die or move on to something else but we all leave something behind us.
The reason why I’m thinking about this today is because I’ve been having to remind myself of this a lot here in Brazil. Because we WILL leave here one day. Either by choice or in a body bag. And there WILL be other missionaries who God will send in behind us to continue His work. So, as tough as things are (and as much as I’m tempted to lose it) I have to remind myself, “what am I working toward and what am I gonna leave behind?” Is the next set of missionaries gonna have to repair “the American Christians” testimony and reputation before they can really begin ministry? Or is it gonna be smooth as silk as we pass the baton to the next guy? It’s hard. And it’s a big responsibility. But it’s one that we all have.
What about you and your position? How’s that gonna look when you leave? Only you can decide. So, are you gonna fill-up the ice trays so the next guy will have ice too? Or will you just use up what’s there and leave the trays empty?
Chillin’ (Get it? Chillin’... Ice, Ice Trays?),
Jim
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