Nathaniel

When Will asked the children to come forward to help the Congregation lead the next song, little Nathaniel refused to go. Even with the urging of his parents, Nathaniel shook his head defiantly—“No!” Finally, Jesse and Noel left Nathaniel behind on the pew as they brought Amber and Evelyn to the front of the auditorium. I understood their actions completely. I could imagine Jesse and Noel dragging Nathaniel up the aisle singing “Jesus Loves the Little Children” with Nathaniel screaming, “No! I don’t want to!” at the top of his lungs. It would not have been a pretty sight.

I wondered if a third party would make a difference, so I approached Nathaniel, “Don’t you want to go up and help us sing?” Again, his head shook adamantly, “No!” It must have been the Holy Spirit that made me ask the next question, “Would you do if for Jesus?”

I watched his eyes and I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. After a few seconds of silence and reflection, Nathaniel grinned from ear to ear and shook his head vigorously, “Yes!”

There are many times when I’ve heard Christians develop the “Moses Complex” (Exodus 3-4) and excuse themselves from participating in something because, “I don’t feel like doing it,” “It’s not my talent,” “It’s not comfortable,” “It’s not my style,” “It’s just not me…” If we’re the ones that are doing the asking, I’ve noticed that we often respond in two ways. Sometimes we don’t want to be confrontational, so we drop it. Other times we argue with the person and give them all the reasons why they should fill our request and we resemble pit bulls refusing to let go of the person.

Nathaniel taught me another way of making a request and life would be so much simpler if we learned to ask in Jesus’ name. Focus and clarity comes into a situation when God is in view. Each party will be responding to God and each party will be responsible for their own behaviors and decisions. This is a relief to me because I don’t have to take rejection personally. Besides, I have so many issues of my own, that I don’t want to also be accountable (rightly or wrongly) for someone else’s decisions.