Elsie runs a Christian home for young girls who have left behind prostitution and drug dealing on the streets of Hollywood. Elsie walks the streets, shares the Gospel, and leads these girls to Christ. If these new converts truly desire to change their lives, and commit to new responsibilities, then they have a place in Elsie’s home.
Pam is one such new believer. Although a Christian with a sweet spirit, Pam bears the scars of knife fights and heroin needles. Her arms are marred and marked with tattoos. But this is one unusual new believer. Because when I met her I sensed her incredible joy as she explained to me her new role in Elsie’s home…
She said with great enthusiasm, “Joni, I scrub the toilets and I’m taking care of all the bathrooms! That’s my job and I love it!” I couldn’t believe it. I mean, she was so grateful to have structure in her life, safety in her surroundings, and an honest-to-goodness humble job serving in Christ’s kingdom.
When I watched Pam go about her duties that day, the day I visited Elsie’s home, I thought of Psalm 84:10, where it says, “For a day in Thy courts, O God, is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” I guess Pam could paraphrase that verse. She might say, “A day in Elsie’s home is better than a thousand on the street and I would rather clean toilets under the roof of this godly woman than dwell in the flop houses on the boulevard.”
I was struck by Pam’s humble spirit toward her job. Her delight in cleaning toilets seems to spring from this awareness of her role in the body of Christ. Few of you friends listening have a background like Pam’s, but every day, you roll up your sleeves to accomplish menial tasks. Maybe it’s changing oil at Jiffy Lube, maybe it’s changing ink cartridges in printers, maybe it’s changing the diaper of your baby, but perhaps the diaper of an elderly parent. Like Pam, when you consider these jobs as service to Christ, then you discover the joy of being “a doorkeeper in the house of God.” It’s just a way of living out 1 Corinthians 10 where it says, “Whether we eat or drink, whatever we do… we do it all for the glory of God.”
Dear friend, I trust Pam’s testimony has inspired and encouraged you today. Because a day of ministry in Christ’s kingdom is far better than a thousand days lived in pursuit of self-destructive pleasures. And for me, a day in this wheelchair is far better than a thousand days lived on my feet looking for self-fulfillment. It’s a lesson people like Pam and me are learning every day.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends