Short Jokes Are OK Sometimes

I got a chance last night to spend some time with a friend of mine, Kyle. He's a great guy, we've been friends for 20 years now. We've traveled the world together, went to college together, we've spent alot of time together in our life. He's shorter than me.

This isn't very odd, seeing how I am 6 foot 5, but the reason I bring this up, is last night, when we were spending sometime together, he told me that I was going to meet his neighbors dad, who was about 70 years old, who apparently in a very short period of time, decided that every time he saw Kyle, that he was going to make a short joke.

Kyle's a sport. He took it in stride. I have to admit, I thought it a bit odd that this guy would pick on Kyle like that. I thought to myself "this old guy is probably really crotchety" and "he probably has low self esteem, that's why he does it".

Then I met the guy and realized why he picked on Kyle, and then on me when I met him, and eventually our friend Jay for the rest of the evening. This guy was a 70 year old Sergeant Major in the US Army who had been serving for 39 years. THIRTY NINE YEARS. (Most people stay in the Army for 20 years, 25 at the most).

I'm not sure if you know the chain of command in the Army, but it goes, God, The President, and then every Sergeant Major is a tie for third. This guy was hilarious. So full of life and enthusiasm. He kept us in stitches the whole night. Sure, he made some light jokes, but do you know what I loved about this guy? He had been in the Army for 39 years, and still loved it. He was dedicated to it.

Sergeant Majors don't stay in for the pay, they stay in because they love the people, and the mission, and last night in this short period of time, it oozed out of his pores the love he has for people. It was infectious.

God wants to impart that level of passion for people in all of us.

It causes me to think, when people meet me, do they see the love of God coming out of me? Would people characterize me as someone who conveys enthusiasm and love for all people? What about you?

That's where we all need to be. On the front lines for the Lord. Committed to the cause because we love Him and want to serve him. We should have that same level of dedication to the mission.

Sure, he picked on Kyle, but when we met him, he picked on us. And it felt like a big brother pick that makes you feel loved and encouraged.

When you're a Sergeant Major, you can do just about anything you want, and last night, that Sergeant Major did, and I loved it.

Bless you
matt

ps. This doesn't mean you can pick on people to show love. Go and make the rank of Sergeant Major, then you can pick on people. Until then, find another way to show love. This way of love only works for Sergeant Majors.