Learning to Serve Others

So for Valentine's Day, the people in my church community decided together that we'd give out free flowers to people on the Downtown Mall (a very popular pedestrian mall with loads of restaraunts) as a way of blessing the people of Charlottesville and sharing the love of God with them. We had a great time...we brought 150 flowers and gave them all out in about an hour (maybe 1.5 hours)...such fun.

One thing I noticed was that some people really have a hard time receiving. Quite a few people would lower their heads, stare at the ground, and mumble a "no" as they passed by...as if they were being solicited for money or a job or something. It was both sad and humorous at the same time. I would say..."no really, it's free...no strings attached...a free rose for you." They would respond, " . . . ". Nothing.

Some people would be more resolute, cutting you off mid sentence..."No. Thank you!" As they briskly walked away.

I wonder if they just didn't want to carry another thing around with them? Maybe we are so inundated with offers from slick ads that we develop this conditioned response..."NO, I don't want to give you any money." But, it wasn't about money. "No, I don't give money."

Other people would stop as their eyes lit up..."really?" "Are you kidding?" "Free?" "Okay, thanks!" As if they had never really gotten anything for free before.

One person asked if we wanted some sort of donation. I smiled...chuckled a bit to myself...and said, "No, we really just want to bless you...please enjoy your flower and have a great Valentine's Day." hesitation...."okay...thank you...this is very kind of you."

Some were really good at receiving. "Oh...this is great...I'm heading over to meet my girlfriend...I'll really score points now!!" :)

We had a lot of fun. We're still learning though.

As we were handing out the last of our flowers, a guy came over and thanked us. He asked, "Who's giving these away?" A moment of silence ensued as we pondered what he might have meant by asking such an odd question. With hesitation in our voices, two or three of us (me included) said, "Us." "Oh, okay...thanks" as he walked away.

Odd question? That wasn't an odd question. It was a perfectly normal question. We seem to get the giving stuff to people to bless them part of this...but we're still learning about the evangelism part of "servant evangelism." Oh well...we'll be back at it again soon. :)