In my locker room, I have the opportunity to serve my teammates, the guys who are next to me every day. But I know I need to serve outside of my own walls as well. People often talk about the importance of serving in the Church, and that is important, but how are we serving people who are hungry? There are many people in our country who are without nutritious food. If we take it a step further and look outside of America, we see some of the global issues. Some countries don’t even have access to clean water, let alone good food!
I’ve been fortunate to work with a couple Christian-based organizations that reach out to the needy around the world. I’ve been to Honduras with World Vision where I was able to see some of the work they’re doing in those communities, providing clean water resources to those who are without. Making sure people around the globe have access to clean water has become a huge passion of mine. World Vision has a program called WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), and they especially focus these efforts within third world countries. If you don’t have water, you can’t touch the hunger epidemic.
It’s important to me to use the platform I’ve been given to serve in many different capacities. I can serve my wife, my son and daughter, my teammates in the locker room, within my community. But when I take a step outside of my immediate roles, I see there are people around the world who are suffering. I want to find out how can I serve those. In the way you serve others, you’re showing them the love of Christ. I don’t want people to just think I’m serving for the sake of serving, I’m serving for the sake of Christ. This is what God has laid on my heart to do.
When I serve others, I’ve found that I’m able to have very spiritual conversations with them, some of which are really hard. It causes me to ask, “Why are these people still struggling with this?” Seeing the work that’s being done and joining in the effort to serve others shows me just how blessed I am. God takes a layer off of the lens and shows me something else. I see just how much I need Him — and how much we as a society need Him. If He’s taking the time to show me something, I want to pay attention.
I don’t only want to talk about the hunger in the world, I want to actually do something about it. For one, I can pray about it. I have funds, I can put my money to work. And finally, I can use my time, I can actually go there and get my hands dirty. Sometimes you have to get down in the trenches and get your hands dirty. I’m an offensive lineman so I’m used to putting my hand in the dirt. I love putting my hand in the dirt! Sometimes as Christians we need to do the same thing.
Go get dirty for Christ! The Bible tells us that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Put action to your words! It’s not just about talking about it, it’s about being about it. Find what pulls on your heartstrings, and go get involved.
Show me, God, how I can serve — what I can do.
— Kelvin Beachum, New York Jets offensive tackle
The Increase, part of the Sports Spectrum Network, is a community of Christian pro athletes sharing their personal stories of the decrease of self and the increase of Christ (John 3:30). Visit TheIncrease.com for more stories and videos.
