In My Heart

What a special time I am having with an adult class of Chinese friends as we work our way through a study of Philippians. It is exciting to see Joy growing in her English as she studies my materials and translates for me. Because of her seminary training, she is not just translating, but teaching with me out of knowledge and understanding. There have been times when I spoke a sentence and it came out a paragraph. She then turns to me and with a smile, tells me she needed to say more.

Not only is it a joy to teach with Joy, but it is a joy to see the students growing. I have been teaching and worshiping in this church for the past four years. As a person from the west, I have earned a rather unique position here by simply being friendly. Making a video of the choir number each Sunday has made me very visible and teaching this class for the past four years has drawn me into their hearts. I clearly am not a visitor in this church, but one of them.

As I spend time with this class and with others here in China, a verse I taught one morning has become very meaningful to me. Paul, while in prison, is thinking about those he worked with in Philippi and he says, “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart” (Phil. 1:7, NASB). I find that my heart is so filled with these people that at times it feels like it is going to burst. The more I serve here the more my life is defined by these people who are in my heart and the experiences I have with them. I teach them; I pray for them; I have fellowship with them; I am sacrificing my life for them because I want to see them better prepared for eternity. This sacrifice brings me to another thought.

God’s love is a sacrificial love that can be expressed by the verses, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others” (Phil. 2:3 – 4, NASB). That love is demonstrated by the death of Jesus on the cross. God sees such value in us that Jesus was willing to die for us. He set aside his own interest to stay in heaven with his Father and looked out for our interest and provides us with the option of eternal life.  Jesus was willing to die for the people who hated him. Consider the person you can’t stand to be around; do you see that person as more important than you, and are you willing to look out for their interest as well as yours?

I fell asleep in the middle of the night last night listening to the reading of the gospel of Mark and woke up with the following verses on my mind, “Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the world to come, eternal life’” (Mark 10:29 – 30, NASB). How real these verses are becoming to me. As one responds to His call and maybe goes to a distant land, Jesus tells us that he will replace our blood family with a new family made up of people where you are serving. Jesus says you will receive a hundred times as much. As I continue to serve here, my Chinese family continues to grow and now they are found in different countries of the world. Some call me grandpa and on this trip some older ones are referring to me as father. That is exactly what Jesus said would happen. Jesus said I would have houses in place of my house. That has also happened. The place where I live here in China is home to me and the many places I have been invited to for a meal are the houses. It is exciting to live within the Scripture you are reading. That is why teaching this to students here is so real and powerful. You are actually living in and experiencing what you are teaching. These people are in my heart. Jesus refers to them as my family.