Be:Interested

I am doing a series at church right now called "Popularity Contest." This week is called Be:Interested. As I was researching and doing some writing on this particular week I came across something interesting. As I go through the next three weeks of this series, I plan on making some extra notes here, so be sure to check back each week to keep the discussion going.

I read on a website about a 12 year old boy named Craig who saw a news story about another 12 year old boy in Pakistan who was murdered for speaking out against child labor in his country. This boy Craig decided to do something about it and started an organization called "Free the Children," which is an organization dedicated to ending child labor and poverty in other countries. It started with this 12 year old boy and now has branches in 35 countries (source: www.idealist.org).

After reading this I started thinking about this whole concept of being interested. See this little boy was interested in making a difference in our world, making a change with child labor and poverty. It seems to me that there really wasn't anyone standing in his way. Here I am also thinking to myself that with branches in 35 countries and being started by a little kid, wow is the only word I can even begin to think of. So now to the point of what I am getting at. . .

If this kid can get interested in something and make such a huge impact on our world, what would it be like if all of us started being more interested in others more than ourselves? I look at our culture and see how self focused we are and how our need and want of things has taken over our thought of being interested in anyone else. Even the little things like stopping to help someone on the side of the road, becomes a chore because we are talking on our cell phone to people we know, in our car, most likely late for something and just don't have time to stop.

What if so many people stopped to help that person on the side of the road that it caused a traffic jam?

What if we all just started being interested in others and maybe even what's going on in the world around us? How would our culture be different? What kind of movements would we see?

What happens too much is that we try so hard to be interesting, that we can't be interested in others. I am probably one of the most guilty people here, but I want to change. I want to help you be interested and I want to be interested in others.

I would love to hear some thoughts out there on how to be:interested. We are called by the great commandment to Love God and Love People. We need to really start living this out. I just think of all the things we could do together if we would start being interested. We could change the world. . .