Muddy Hands & Wet Sneakers

MUDDY HANDS & WET SNEAKERS

by Jonathan Allbaugh

Muddy hands and wet sneakers. Little boys find all kinds of trouble during the lazy days of summer when school is out and parents are at work. 45 years ago, the type of troubles that kids could find were significantly tamer than they are today! Back in those days, the winding creeks of Kansas presented a wonderful play land full of life, mosquitos, critters and discovery. Looking at the flow of water, I recall the monumental challenge of taking control of the waterways moving through the property. Surveying the land, I identified several large boulders that lay along the dirt bank serving no particular use in the location where they rested. With all my boy-power, I leveraged, pulled, pushed and rolled these boulders into the waterway with triumphant splashes that got me muddy… well, muddier! Standing with a feeling of deep pride welling up within my soul, I marveled at how my exploits effectively blocked the creeks’ normal flow, causing a redirection around the boulder’s edge.

It is amazing how these meandering lessons from childhood have informed my pursuit of making a difference in the Kingdom of God. The creeks of yesteryear have been replaced by a constant barrage of challenges in life that seem to relentlessly press away from the plan of God. Little of this life can be managed or controlled. As a young man, I sought to aggressively work toward reformation of culture by, preaching sermons, conducting missions trips, and “taking on” the other two young men standing at my door with black name-badges. After several years, I realized that no one sermon changed lives. As a matter of fact, people couldn’t remember what I had preached the week before. Likewise, I wondered whether the missions trips or witnessing to the missionaries had any lasting impact. Was it meaningless?

This issue of Reclaim addresses the idea of our influence in the world. As the master influencer, Jesus spoke to his disciples saying, “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:32- 33).” Looking toward the cross, Jesus perceived how his apparent defeat was actually the pathway toward victory. A moment in time where the witness of his action would redirect a seemingly unstoppable movement of sin and destruction.

Ankle deep in the creeks of Kansas, I marveled at how a few boulders redirected the flow of water. As a middleaged man, I reflected upon this boyish encounter and realized that my life was not about one sermon, one missions trip, or one encounter with the Mormon missionaries. Rather, it was about dropping rocks in the stream where God placed me. It was about being a boulder, firmly planted in the waterway. A witness of presence. A witness that is not surprised by resistance. Together, God is calling us to be witnesses rolled into our cultural flow.

Jonathan Allbaugh, Dean of Missional Effectiveness at Vanguard University of Southern California

VANGUARD.EDU