Table for Two

A few weeks ago, one of my 8^th graders took me out to dinner.  I guess technically I took him because I drove, but he paid.  Granted, it was only a few bucks, but I suppose some might question why I would let a kid whose family isn’t wealthy buy me dinner.  The reasons are two-fold.

First, I value generosity.  I try to be generous myself, and I appreciate it in others.  By accepting his dinner invitation, I gave him a chance to practice generosity.  God set an example for us in ultimate generosity in that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  Not only so, but he also made us heirs who will share in his glory (Romans 8:17).  As Ed Welch puts it in his book, When People are Big and God is Small, "It's one thing to release a person from prison, but it is something else to deluge that same person with all the riches imaginable" (127).  If only we would be so generous with one another!

Second, I wanted to give him a chance to materially contribute.  People in Christian community development fail when they don’t expect anything of those they are ministering too.  In his book, A Quiet Revolution, John Perkins says dependence is “the hard, seemingly impenetrable reality behind poverty” (133).  Too often I see a sense of entitlement among the youth I work with – an attitude that I owe them something.  Not only is this not the case, but it would make for a very unhealthy relationship.

As for dinner, we spent some quality time chatting over tacos.  We talked about music and video games, about how his parents might move to Petersburg and he would either go with them or move in with his sister.  I asked him what his favorite restaurant was and he said Riverside Lunch, where his dad takes him about once a month.  Maybe we’ll go there next time… but I’ll pay.