In 1942, General MacArthur was compelled to make a daring escape from the Philippines to Australia, through a Japanese blockade, to escape the invading Japanese forces. When he reached Australia, he gave a famous speech, in which he said, "I came through, and I shall return". General MacArthur repeated those very words several times over the next 2 years in various public engagements, and in 1944, he did return to evict the Japanese occupiers.
Words have power. Repeated, public commitment reinforces that power. It would have been relatively easy for General MacArthur to say those words "I shall return" the first time, in an act of momentary bravado. But he kept committing himself to those words over the next 2 years. I will return. I
will return. I
WILL return. And he said them publicly, compelling himself to be held accountable to those words. I think he kept saying it so he wouldn't find a way to conveniently forget about his promise! Even the bravest man would find it difficult to leave the safety of Australia and head back into battle, especially after such a hair-raising escape.
It seems unlikely that I will have to commit to such martial valour in my life! But in other ways, we all have the opportunity to consistently hold ourselves accountable to ourselves and to others. When I got married, I got the chance to say to my wife, and before all my family and friends, I do - for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. And I can take that further. I can consistently tell my wife and my children and even my friends - I love my wife, and no matter what happens, we'll stick together.
At work, I get the chance to say to my colleagues and bosses - let's always do the right thing, and no matter what profit is at stake, we'll choose to do good. If we keep reinforcing this message, we'll build that culture, and people will start doing the right thing instinctively and consistently.
I meet my friends meet every month to deliver bread and spend time with the rental block residents. We get the chance to say to each other, and to the residents - we'll be here next month. And the next. And the next. And just saying it, and making that promise, helps to strengthen our resolve to keep coming back. So we've been at it now for almost 10 years.
Anyone can fall in love. It's
staying in love that's significant.
Anyone can choose to do the right thing once. It's choosing to do so
consistently that makes the difference.
Anyone can be there for a friend in need. It's actually being
counted on to be there, again and again and again, that's the real thing.
It's so easy to slip, to get tired, to make the "I'll do it next time" choice. But making these promises to myself and to others helps. It keeps me accountable not only to myself, but to others. Anytime I slip, I look in the mirror and remember - didn't I say I would stick to it? Didn't I say this is the kind of life, and life choice, I want to make? And didn't I tell everyone that's what I want to do? Then my resolve is restored, and I can get back to it.
Earlier this year in June, we brought a team of friends to help a school and orphanage in Indonesia. It was a great experience. At the end of it, we said, we'll be back. I published a blogpost and said, we'll be back. We told our church leaders, we want to go back. We told the school principal, we'll be back. We gathered our friends and said, let's go back. And not only will we go back once. We said, we'll go back again. And again. And again. We're here for the long haul.
And making those promises to ourselves and to others helped. We went back in November! Armed with lessons learned from the first trip - get help with more interpreters, and learn some basic language skills, so we can cover more ground in small separate groups, instead of having to move around in one big group. Engage the parents, and not just the children, so that parents are better equipped with life skills after we leave.
Keeping promises is hard. Not just because of the resolve to keep my promises, but also because actually doing the thing I promise is hard! I can promise to help those in need. I can even try to keep my promise by going down to help. But there are some things that I simply can't do, or can't do as well as someone else.
And that's where community comes in. Community keeps me accountable to my promises. More than that, community helps me to actually fulfil my promises. It's been said before that we can do no great things, only small things with great love. But when we get together as a community, then many people can do a whole lot of small and different things with great love.
One of my kids made this observation from our recent mission. Daddy, after you are done with the work, the people feel
helped. But when Mommy is done with her work, the people feel
loved! Sometimes, people need a
solution. But many other times, people just need
affection. What a team we make :)
It's great to see so many people embrace volunteerism. Turning up a couple of times a year, helping a few random strangers, donating money - these are all great. It's wonderful that so many people choose to do these. But it can be so so so much more, if we choose a pattern of giving that causes us to be
counted on; if we choose to build real
relationships. Then we can properly turn voluntourism into real volunteerism!
And if we want to be counted on, and to have relationships with the people we are helping, then we need to be counted on, and to have real relationships among ourselves first. For example, if we help with the bread distribution or in a remote village somewhere, and want to say to the residents, I'll be here for you, then we must be able to show them that we, as helpers, are here for each other. Otherwise where's the authenticity? Why would they believe we are there for them, if we're not even here for each other?
Building real relationships takes time, and consistency. And so we commit to meet each other every week; we commit to help the local residents every month; and we commit to go out to help our friends overseas every 6 months.
It's feels scary to make these sorts of promises and commitments. It's much easier to walk away, and say, nah, I'll just be an occasional participant - that's still something. It's true. That is still something. You can date, but never commit to marry. You can job hop, but never commit to a bigger vision. You can help, but never commit to be there. It is hard. But taking it beyond occasional participation, and into authentic, consistent community - that makes all the difference.
I say all this, not as someone who's managed to do it, but merely as someone who's promised to do it. So, although I know I will stumble and make many mistakes, I thank God that there is a model for me to follow, who didn't stumble, and did the job absolutely right.
Many Christmases ago, our Father in heaven promised - I'll be there for you. And so He sent His Son Jesus to literally be God With Us -
Emmanuel - leaving his splendour in heaven to live in squalor among us.
He promised - I'll make a way for you. And so Jesus took our sin upon Himself, the sin which we couldn't disentangle ourselves from, and suffered the punishment we deserved, by dying on the cross.
He promised - I will never leave you or forsake you, so I'll give you a guide while I'm away. And so He gave the Holy Spirit, with which twelve disciples grew the church community, against imprisonment, death and impossible odds, until the disciples were
everywhere.
And finally, He promised - I'll be back. And so He will.
A very blessed Christmas to everyone - and if you want a new, transformative 2020, driven no longer by what we lack, but by what we can give, then make yourself this promise - I'm going to be counted on. And if you want to be part of building that authentic, consistent, giving community, call me!
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