STUPID?

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?" - James 2:14

I was a youth pastor in LeMars, Iowa at the time, planning my very first youth mission trip. 

If my memory serves, we were going to do some work in some of the rougher parts of Kansas City for several days. We would do some group fundraising, but each participant would still be required to come up with 2 to 3 hundred dollars themselves to help cover transportation, food, and housing. 

Our work schedule would include serving meals, painting at a community center, and doing whatever odd jobs we could to be helpful. 

My church was not used to the idea of short term mission trips. 

My first idea had been to spend several days at a nearby Native American reservation. I couldn’t make that fly, though, because too many of the church people disdained the Indians as lazy and drunk. They didn’t care to help them in any way – it would be a waste of time. (I was told to give that idea up.)

This Kansas City trip, though, was going to get off the ground even if we had only a small team willing to go. 

One evening, early in the recruitment process, I was leaving the Pizza Hut as two of my teens were coming in. I wasn't sure if  Nate and Matt were on board, so I asked them point blank if they were going to Kansas City with us. 

Matt said, "I haven’t really paid much attention. What is happening again?" 

And so I explained that we would be working in the inner city for several days helping local residents and the cost of the trip was going to be around $200. 

Nate was surprised: “Wait a minute – you mean we pay money to go work for free for somebody else?”

I was caught off guard. "Well, yeah, basically."

I will never forget Nate's response: “Gawd, that’s stupid!”

Neither one of these young men went with us. And it was too bad - they missed out on a great trip.