Do you know how many people make their living off of being the “middle man”? The fact is our whole society is based in some way on this concept. When you want to buy a house you don’t usually contact the owner, you contact a real estate agent. Even when you rent a house you sometimes deal with a “management” company, instead of the owner. Everything from buying stocks to buying flowers has someone in the middle helping the transaction happen and making their cut of the profits. A lot of the time that’s the safest place to be. The risk can be much less for the people in the middle.
I worked for a family member once that had a business selling storage tanks. Mostly the big ones you see in mountain and rural areas. We would make some of the tanks on-site, but a lot of them we would simply take the request on the phone, call a bigger distributor, who would give us a discount so we could in-turn sell the tank to the customer and make some money on the deal. The tanks were even delivered directly to the site sometimes and we would never even see them or the person who bought them! It almost sounds dishonest but it’s become “the American way” of making money and we call that being a “broker”.
Now I’m not putting anybody down for how they make a living, I had just been thinking about a situation where I tried being the “middle man”, or “broker”, on a different level…on a spiritual level. You see, I had a co-worker that came to me one day because she new that I was a Christian and she was needing help with her son who at the time was 17 almost 18. He had gotten involved with the wrong crowd and had gotten in progressively worse and worse trouble with the law until he found himself going to prison for about 3 years. Yes, that’s right, adult prison. His mom was asking if there was anybody at my church that I could get to connect with him somehow, to encourage him and help him find a better way to live. I told her I would do my best, and I set out to see what I could do.
Since he was a young, Hispanic male, that had some gang background, I started trying to find someone in our church who would fit the order. The “middle man” was on the job. I talked to several people and even gave the address of the prison to a couple people who said they would try, but after about six months my friend’s son had received no mail. I was having trouble figuring out why no one would take an interest in helping this young, lost youth. I was failing at my job as the broker, the “middle man”. I had seen the mother’s tears, someone had to help!
So I did the only thing left to do. I took the address I had been given, wrote him a letter, and mailed it off. I had no idea how he was going to react. I didn’t feel like I was the right one for the job…I was much older, and Caucasian. In my mind I couldn’t see him connecting with some old, white dude…..but I was wrong. You see God had a plan all along. He set the whole thing up from the start. It was amazing. What I remembered was that even though we may be different ages or races, that God made each and every one of us in His image. So the idea that we have nothing in common with certain people is a lie from the get-go. We were made by God to be a family, to love each other like He loves us, no conditions, and no boundaries. As my new friend and I continued writing back and forth my eyes were opened to the fact that God didn’t want a broker, or a middle man, He wanted me, God new that not only did this young man need my friendship, but I needed his as well. He didn’t want me to find someone else to be his friend, He wanted me to do it. He new we both had something to offer each other…friendship, family, and the love of Christ. I am so happy God put this person in my life. We have been writing to each other since 2006 and next year he gets out. I have every intention of being outside the gates when he steps out, now 20 years old, and giving my brother in Christ a big hug, and on the following Sunday walking in to church with him.
Now this isn’t intended to be a pat on my own back, I just wanted people to learn from my mistake. Don’t always be looking for a “middle man” when it comes to God’s work. It may feel like the safer way sometimes, but you will never know the blessings God has in store for you…if you don’t see the path He’s laid before you.
Take the risk…be God’s “direct supply” to the lost.
By Glen Bryant
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