They Love Him More

By Juan Galloway

Obviously, as Christians, we are not in a contest with others to see who can love God more. If you’re like me, however, you really want to learn from those who appear to love God more than you. There is nothing more important than loving God, so we seek these great giants of faith that we need to hear from and observe, so that we can follow in their footsteps. Where do we find them? Look no farther than the gutter.

At an urban church plant called Frontlines in Paterson, New Jersey, I met a 51-year-old man named Mark in a drug rehabilitation program. Mark has been homeless and a heroin addict for 20 years. He found Jesus in Christian rehab and was radically changed. While in the program, he trained as a chef at a cooking school. He uses his skills to cook for the homeless in a soup kitchen that serves breakfast seven days a week.

Mark finished at the top of his class in cooking school and was recruited by numerous prestigious restaurants. He prayed about how he should respond to these job offers, and he ultimately felt he should stay at the mission and continue serving God there. He is staying because he loves it, and he loves God. Mark has a peace and joy that I truly envy. Materially, he has nothing, and yet, in the things that matter most, he has everything.

Jesus was once having a meal at a religious leader’s house when a woman who had a reputation for living a sinful life entered, having learned He was there, and anointed His feet with her tears and some fragrant oil from an alabaster flask. The host was shocked. So Jesus told this story:

“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
Luke 7:41-47

Jesus was criticized for letting this sinful woman touch him and yet he used her as an example to teach the “more respectable” people who were hosting him. She loved him more. Jesus is still trying to get through to us as Christians today, and He still uses sinners to do it.

So many of our hang-ups, anxieties and worries would be molehills instead of mountains if we could get proper perspective on our position in the kingdom of God. We have been forgiven much, but we don’t fully comprehend it because there is plenty of stuff to help mask and forget it. The mentally ill, the addicted, the poor and the oppressed are faced with their stark realities everyday, which make them acutely aware of the amazing grace of God. We must humble ourselves and learn from them.

Living in the richest country on earth has a strange effect on us. We have much more then we need, but we are still dissatisfied. We look at those who have failed to achieve and tend to despise them. And yet these broken people are the ones that God hears when they cry out.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17

Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. Psalm 55:17

I have been fortunate to make many friends on the streets through the church plants I have been involved with. I have learned lessons from prostitutes about faith. I have been given powerful divinely inspired words of encouragement and exhortation from people who are homeless and mentally ill. I have cried out with those who are brokenhearted and experienced God’s presence. I have been touched by Jesus in surprising ways.

Like the woman with the alabaster jar who poured out everything she had on his feet, I want to join her in kissing Jesus’ feet. I want to thank him for the undeserved mercy that He lavishes on me. I just want to love Him more.

Rev. Juan Galloway
1181 E. Broad Street
Elizabeth, NJ 07201
800-736-2773
juan@nycr.org
www.ReliefBus.org

“They Love Him More” by Juan Galloway was originally published in Advance Magazine. Reprinted with Permission.