Since moving to Guatemala our lives have become a lot dirtier. One of the things that we find ourselves laughing about is how germ-a-phobic the typical American is and how one must surrender those fears if they are going to survive in Guatemala. As I have worked in rural village ministry over the last 2 1/2 years I have crawled in mud, drank contaminated water, and eaten food that made me sick. I have had dirty children’s hands stroke my face and have been peed, pooped and puked on more times than I would care to count. This dirty existence has been a part of my life as I have gone out into other people’s homes.
Recently, however, we have gone through a transition. As we have opened our group home we have found that we don’t have to go out to get dirty, because the dirt has come to us. As we have brought in these wonderful eight children, we have dealt with the following:
- Lice
- Super lice (resistant to the strongest of lice shampoo)
- Scabies
- Mites
- Gallons of drool
- Lots and lots of pee and poop
I personally spent a large part of yesterday in a dermatologist’s office with a family member getting treatment for mites and learning how to eradicate them completely from our household. (Fortunately, it is not hard to treat and get rid of this type.) When I finally returned home I was greeted by Brayan (age 12 with cognitive delays) who proceeded to pee and defacate his pants in copious amounts. So, I spent a half hour helping him get cleaned up and showered, followed by another 15 minutes trying to get myself clean.
Simply put, our lives are dirty by choice. Don’t get me wrong, we face these sanitary issues vigorously. We treat lice, scabies and mites quickly and fiercely until not a single nit or mite remains. We sterilize bedding, spray furniture, bag toys and pillows, pick nits and declare war on these invading forces. We purchase anti bacterial wipes and soap in bulk. But we have learned that life and ministry can, and should, be dirty.
Face it, we could clean up our lives real quickly if we were to leave behind this ministry. We could live in a much more sterile environment if we would keep these little ones out. Or, we could continue to take them in but do so at an arm’s length. I will admit, when the courts bring a child to our door it can be tempting not to embrace them until their head has been checked and treated and rashes have been examined and cleared. But when they come to us, the last thing they need is a clinical exam. The first thing they need is love. So we hold them, hug them and sit them on our laps, even if they are still wet with urine and stink from days without a bath. As a result, we get dirty.
As we approach Christmas, I have been thinking a lot about the dirtiness of ministry. Why? Because Jesus knows what it means to get dirty in order to love. After all, that really is what Christmas is all about. Jesus left heaven and came as a urinating, defecating and drooling infant. And when He was born He was not laid in a sterile hospital bed, but in an animal feed trough, surrounded by the stench of manure. Can you imagine the parasites and bacteria that surrounded him as he lay on his birth bed? His first visitors were shepherds who were not welcome in most places because of their smell. He made His entrance into our fallen world in the dirtiest of locales to the dirtiest of people.
This was a foreshadowing of His life. As he grew and began to minister, we see a man/God who walked into the mire of this sinful world in order to lead people out. He broke the spiritual cleanliness laws of the Pharisees over and over again. He touched the dead and the leprous. He walked through Samaria and spoke and socialized with Samaritans. He went to parties hosted by tax collectors and seemed more at home among the lost sheep of prostitutes and thieves than among the the ruling religious class of His day. He wore the accusation “friend of sinners” as a welcomed title. Jesus walked right into the filth of both humanity and its sin in order to love, serve and save. And it all began in a dirty manger.
Loving and serving people in this fallen world is not a sterile undertaking. It is messy, even filthy, at times. We cannot remain in sterile churches singing praise choruses and waiting for those outside to clean-up and come to us. And, face it, if they come before they are clean they are, too often, rejected. That is not love and ministry as God modeled it. If we are to reach a dying world we cannot shy away from disease and dirt. We cannot run away from sin and its effects. We cannot stand at a distance while shaking our heads at things like drugs, prostitution, abuse, dysfunction, alcoholism and abortion. We have to run toward them and wade into the lives of those held captive. We have to get dirty as we embrace them, love them and lead them to freedom. And any church that tells us to do otherwise is not preaching the true Gospel.
(Before you write me to correct my theology, let me clarify…when I say “get dirty” I am not speaking of indulging in sin. Obviously, God’s Word teaches that we are to be holy as God is holy, so I would never encourage anyone in sinning. I am speaking of the messiness that comes from engaging and loving those ensnared by sin and brokenness. And I am speaking against the false theology of churches that promote isolationism of both the church and believers from the very sinners we are called to reach. Like Jesus, we should also be called “a friend of sinners” and wear that accusation of the religious as a welcomed title.)
We are Christians (little Christs) and are to walk in His steps. So, if we really want to honor Him this Christmas we should wade out of the safety of our churches and into the messiness of this world in order to help others see and know Him. After all, that is exactly what He did for us.
This has been just a few ponderings from the midst of this very dirty ministry. Blessings from Guatemala as you get dirty for the One who got dirty for you!
Daryl, Wanda and the Crew
