How I Learned The Power of a New Pair of Shoes

One Saturday back in 2001, I spent the morning shopping for a pair of sandals. I was 24 at the time, so vanity and appearance definitely played a part in my life decisions. I was on a hunt to buy the coolest, hippest pair no matter what the cost — because the way I looked mattered that much to me.

I ended up finding a pair that easily cost in excess of $100, and I was thrilled since I knew that I could show them off that evening at church.

During those days, I was heavily involved in a group at my church. We were going through a series about Jesus being radical, and that night Shane Claiborne was set to speak.

It was a typical evening of worship, and Shane talked about his time with Mother Theresa and his organization The Simple Way.

As the service winded down, I began to think of ways that we could spend the remainder of the evening

— out with friends, enjoying community and all the fun we’d have.

Daniel Hill stepped on stage and said that we were going to be doing something never done before.

Shane’s message was about living simple, so that others could simply live. He reminded us of the words Jesus spoke, “If you want to be the greatest, you must become the least.” He told stories of serving the poor, and helping those who had been marginalized in our society.

*photo credit: aaronisnotcool. Creative Commons

Daniel asked Shane what we, as a community, could do to make a difference. Shane talked about his encounters with the homeless, and how one of their greatest needs was footwear. Then he issued all of us a challenge to donate shoes of our own.

Not the “go home and bring back a pair whenever” kind of challenge.

It was literally a call to action to remove whatever pair we had on our feet right then and there and drop them into a box at the back of the auditorium.I thought to myself, “You have got to be kidding me. This is a joke, right? I just spent $150 this morning on a pair of sandals.”

The band started playing music, and I watched hundreds of people walk past me with shoes in hand. I was conflicted, and tried my best to make a deal with God. “How about I go home and get another pair? Or two pair?”

Then it hit me, and I immediately burst into tears. I was clinging to something that I could easily replace, at the expense of denying somebody who was in need.

God wanted my best, and wasn’t interested in my mediocre.

This was a test to see if, like Abraham, I would be willing to sacrifice. Then I remembered something Bill Hybels once said in a message — 95% devotion to God is 5% short.

That night we collected 700 pairs of shoes. Immediately after the service, we had vans of people go down to the inner city to pass them out to the homeless. What started out as a typical Saturday evening quickly became a night I’d never forget. It was a lesson I’ll never forget.

You might be wondering what I chose to do. I drove home that night with bare feet. Because that’s what Jesus would have done.

How I Learned The Power of a New Pair of Shoes is a post from: Storyline Blog