Gerald Ford, Gandhi, Jesus, and you

Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together. 

~ Gerald R. Ford

Okay, so maybe it's not an election year. Ignore that bit and just look at what America's 38th President is telling us. 

Since his statement is rather self-explanatory, I'd feel a bit redundant going into detail over it, but I suppose redundancy is just unavoidable here. 


I'm not trying to say that Gerald Ford was the greatest leader that my country has ever seen. (I wasn't even alive during his office.) I honestly don't know all that much about him, actually. Basically the only thing that I know about President Ford is that he was born, he lived, he said what I quoted, and then he died. I don't think they ever covered him in grade school, and they most certainly didn't cover Nixon! But I digress. (I've always wanted to say that, you know. Now I can die happily.) 


What I was trying to say was, Ford was entirely correct. The only way for us to progress not only as a country, but as people, is for us to come together. We need to get over ourselves. We need to erase the lines that we've drawn in hate and demolish the walls we've built out of pride and prejudice. (I promise that that was an accidental Jane Austen reference.) And further still, I agree that the only way for anybody to be victorious is to serve others and care for those around us. As Gandhi famously once said,

You must be the change you want to see in the world. 

And again, I completely agree. We can't leave the job for someone else to do. If there is a need, meet it. Don't wait for someone else to come along. 


I know that while those words are easy to say and even easier to type, they are extremely difficult to act upon. Believe me, there have been quite a few instances in which I saw a need that I could meet but I opted out. Now, looking back, I view each of those moments as times in which I did not represent Christ. Every single time that I've failed to help, I've betrayed my role as ambassador. And I have absolutely no excuse.


Christ didn't die so that I could flaunt my freedom. He didn't lay down all of His heavenly glory so that I could live my life alone. He didn't humble Himself so that I could take all His riches. He died so that I could spread the freedom. He laid down His glory so that I could live my life with others. He humbled Himself so that I could share His riches and help bring Him more co-heirs. In that last verse, notice how it says that if we suffer, then we will be glorified. 


God didn't give us salvation so we could take it and then run off and party. He gave it to us so that we could work for Him, give Him our lives, and enjoy the journey. As Christians, our goal should ideally be for us to become like Christ. Although we can't ever be perfect, we must do our best to represent Him accurately. And the only way to do this is to do what He did.


He dined with the social outcasts. He spent time with the children who were otherwise frowned upon. He performed miracles, which we are also fully capable of performing! He empowered the powerless, blessed the poor, fed the starving. And there is nothing that He gave to the people in His time that we cannot give to the people in ours. (Aside from salvation, but I think you get what I'm saying.)


So let's not stand still. Let's not settle for less than God's glorious best. Let's come together (I'm resisting the urge to sing this right now) and serve. Let's suffer, because He first suffered for us. I think we owe it to Him.