Anyone who knows me, I'm sure, will find this as ironic as I do that I am the American being framed with this stereotype.
Its not that I can't use electronics necessarily, its just that I really don't care about them, so I don't often choose to use them. I have a Walmart Gophone because I refuse to pay for a Smartphone. If I go to my parent's house and want to watch a DVD or use Netflix, I have to get my brother Jesse to help me. I'm always lost when using a Mac computer. And the electronics I do have such as a laptop and GPS system were given to me (I am for sure grateful for the GPS, though. It really helps with my amazing, or not-so-amazing, sense of direction).
A couple of days ago, I was in the office at the school with three teachers, the secretary, the principal and the headmaster. They needed to send a text message and handed the phone to me because no one knew how to do it. They didn't bother to ask if I knew how, they just figured I did. Amazingly sending a text is one skill I have acquired.
Today, P. Banuel comes in with a new iPhone. I don't think the majority of people here have even seen an iPhone. He handed it to me and asked me to put his contacts in it because he doesn't know how to use it. I literally started laughing when he walked off, as I was figuring out how to do it. I really didn't even know how. I realized its not too hard, though. Even if I don't already have experience on certain electronics, I guess I've had enough exposure to figure it out. haha.
All this to say, I've found myself being rather annoyed by this. Not annoyed that I don't know that much about electronic gadgets, but annoyed that I have to deal with it, I guess. Like I mentioned earlier, I really don't even care about this stuff when I'm in the U.S, much less when I'm doing missions in another country. Honestly, the last thing I want to do is spend time plugging numbers into a stupid iPhone.
As I was doing it, I could feel the Holy Spirit convicting me with that nudging deep inside. I was reminded of two things.
The first thing is a question from my good friend Dr. Nesbit. He once asked me, "If God wanted you to dig ditches for the rest of your life, would you do it for His Kingdom?" I don't really know how I answered him at the time, but the question has stuck with me for several years. I found myself thinking about that today. If I'm sending text messages out for a school in India, will I do it for His Kingdom? Good question. One that I'm still working through in my heart.
The second is a statement I heard from a pastor once. I can't remember who it was, but I've had it written on the inside cover of my Bible for a long time. "The greatest test of servanthood: How you respond when someone treats you like a servant." I feel like in all of these matters of technology that no one asks me if I'll do it, they just hand it over. Nor am I asked if I even want to do it. And I've had a really bad attitude inside about it. (I say inside because I cover it pretty well). I think I've been failing the test of servanthood.
Like I said, I could feel the Holy Spirit convicting me when I was working with the iPhone and for the rest of the day. They actually need my help with these type of things, whether I want to do them or not. My prayer, my deep prayer even when part of me doesn't want to pray it, is that God will help me to be faithful in all of these things, no matter how annoying or small. And that I truly will serve in any capacity with the kind of attitude that Jesus served with.
And when I get back home, I'm going to start looking for jobs in the IT field...
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