Donuts in the Break Room

Can you believe that we're almost halfway through July already? It seems like summer just started, and yet the fall semester is right around the corner. This summer has been great! My roommate and I moved into our first apartment. I've gotten a chance to catch up with some old high school friends, I've been able to do some fun reading, I visited family, I'm taking a couple of classes, and I'm working. It's just been the perfect balance of relaxing and being productive. Working at the campus library during the summer can be pretty dull as you can imagine. I'm not complaining about the stillness of it all. But usually if I come home with a story about how I got a papercut, it's been an exciting day. There is one thing, though, that changes the mood of all of the library staff, even on the most mellow of days: free food. It sounds ridiculous, and it probably is, but there's just something about those two words and what they mean put together that makes people crazy. (I mean crazy in the mildest sense of the word, of course. It is a library after all.) Let me just explain to you what I mean:

Every once in awhile, there is a lady that brings in a couple of boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts for the staff. As soon as they pass through the front door, the eyes of all the workers up front follow those boxes until they reach the back where the break room is. Immediately phone calls are made, emails are sent out, workers comb through the stacks to find all of the staff and let them know that there are donuts in the back break room. It's kind of like watching a virus spread, only a virus of good, tasty news. One person catches the donut-bug who gives it to another, who infects two more people, who give it to other people, until absolutely no one is left who hasn't heard that there are donuts in the break room. Then they start coming. All of the people with offices upstairs, one-by-one make their way down into the break room. The librarians who work in the back come out front to fill their coffee cups to sip along with their donuts. Us student workers take turns going into the back while the others watch the desks. It's incredible the amount of movement that happens all because someone was gracious enough to bring us a treat.

The first time I experienced this phenomenon in the library, I just had to laugh. I couldn't believe all of the commotion going on over donuts! It was amazing. But it also gave me a great picture of something much deeper and more important. As I watched the way the news traveled from person to person and the excitement that came from it all, I couldn't help but think about the shepherds who were told by the multitude of angels to go worship the Messiah who had be born in Bethlehem and was lying in a manger. After the shepherd had seen the baby Jesus, the Bible says, "they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." (Luke 2:17-18) The shepherds had met the Messiah that had been promised and waited for since the fall of man. Of course they were excited to share the good news they had seen and heard! I also think about the Samaritan woman that Jesus met at the well, and how, after Jesus told her all she had ever done, she ran into the town to tell everyone what about this man she had met. "Could this be the Messiah?" (John 4:29) Perhaps it's silly to compare donuts to the gospel, but what I witnessed in the library provided me with a small glimpse of what it must have been like that night in Bethlehem or that day at the well. And then of course came conviction.

I, too, like the shepherds, like the Samaritan woman, have met the Messiah. He has exposed everything I have ever done. He has come to me in my humble position. I have worshipped Him. I have drunk of His living water. Yet I can't remember the last time I was as excited about meeting Jesus as my fellow workers were about eating donuts. I was having a conversation with my brother the other day about how Christianity is so offensive to some people. While I don't think that we as believers should strive to offend people, I do think that, if we are excited about and sharing our faith as we should be, some people are going to be offended. Jesus warned His disciples about this when He said, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you... They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me." (John 15:18-19, 21) Throughout history, since the disciples began preaching the gospel of Christ, they were hated and persecuted. And still their passion could not be squelched. I am so blessed to be able to live a comfortable life, to study at a seminary, to talk about the Bible openly with my friends. But as great of a privilege as it has been, I also think that I have been given a great disadvantage in that I don't know what it is to suffer for what I believe, and in fact, the fear of suffering has kept me from experiencing the great joy of sharing my faith out of the excitement of what Christ has done in my life. Instead, my excitement has been turned to things like donuts. So, next time donuts are brought into work, should I encourage my co-workers to curb their enthusiasm? No, I don't think it's wrong to get excited about free food. But I do think it's important to keep in perspective the good news that I have about the Christ who sacrificed Himself out of love so that I may have a restored relationship with my Creator. That, my friends, is much more exciting than the fact that there are donuts in the break room.

Who Am I?

Who am I?

I am Israel.

                Forgetting the promises of the faithful One and choosing to follow the created rather than Creator.

I am Gomer.

                Faithfully loved by One but constantly seeking the love of others who will never satisfy my longing.

I am Judas.

                Masquerading as a follower of the One who can save yet willing to betray the Truth for my own profit.

I am Cain.

                Brought to hate those closest to me because of selfishness and pride.

I am Lot.

                Tempted to follow what looks too good to be true and finding that it is.

I am Saul.

                Given the kingdom but driven mad with the fear of losing it.

I am Solomon.

                Given unimaginable riches and still unsatisfied.

I am Samson.

                Dancing with the enemy not considering the grave consequences that follow.

I am the Pharisees.

                Ignoring Truth for tradition and condemning others for not doing the same.

But.

I am new.

                I live not by my flesh but by His Spirit.

I am alive.

                I have been lifted out of my self-made grave and set on solid ground.

I am forgiven.

                All of my pride has been forgotten and in its place remains humility and praise.

I am called.

                No longer do I wander, because I have One to live for.

I am loved.

                I have been lavished with grace and affection that I do not deserve.

I am righteous.

                From no efforts of my own am I good, but from the efforts of One greater.

I am free.

                I am not burdened by the shame and guilt of my past.

I am secure.

                I know my place is in His hands, in His arms, and in the apple of His eye.

Who am I?

                I am His.

                And He is mine.