Being Jesus. Being Brad.

I want to tell you the story of a young man. Most of you will think this is made up to play on your emotions, but it's not. This is real life. This is the story of Brad...

When Brad was six years old his mother started pimping him out to grown men. At the age of twelve, he ran away to live on the streets and eventually became addicted to heroin. As Brad grew up fending for himself, he met a young woman who grew to love him. She was eventually able to help him get away from drugs and beat his addiction to this deadly drug. They fell in love and were soon married. Before long they had a beautiful baby girl and life was finally good. However, when their daughter was three months old, the family was in a car wreck and Brad's wife and new baby girl were killed. He was alone again. Alone with the screaming voices that taunted him as he developed schizophrenia.

Overwhelmed and overcome by grief, Brad found himself eventually living with a gay lover. But he was questioning everything. Then he met my cousin in a chat room. Though they never physically met, she tried to help him and told him of the never-ending love of Jesus Christ. How could a loving God let these things happen to him?, he wondered. Besides, the voices didn't like to hear about it, so the conversations were usually cut short. Yet he knew something....everything, was not right.
He wrote to her one night, "I am so dirty inside."

"Why  baby?"

"Because of Mommy's men."

Brad, the grown man, is still a hurt child inside.

Not long ago, he and his lover had an argument and the lover left Brad for several days, so he turned to the one thing that had taken his pain away before: Heroin. When the lover eventually came back, he told Brad that stuff was not allowed in his house and so he kick Brad out.

Brad has been missing for a week now.

As my cousin called me asking for prayer for Brad the other night, I was overwhelmed by the urge to pray, not only that he would come to know Christ and come home, but that someone, wherever Brad is, would be Jesus to him. We prayed that the Spirit would lead someone to him that could help him know what true love is, and that the truest love and the only cleansing, is in Jesus Christ. We prayed for Jesus to find Brad and love on him in his brokenness through the arms of one of His servants.

Then I started thinking. If I long for someone to be Jesus to Brad, am I willing to be Jesus to another "Brad"? Have I been Jesus to those around me who are hurt and suffering? Those who desperately need to experience a glimpse of the love of Jesus Christ in order to become more addicted to His love than he ever could be to any drug. To know again what it feel like to be clean.

It's easier to think of Brad's story if it's far away, but Brad lives in the plains of the United States of America. "Brad" is most likely in your town.

Will you please pray for Brad?

And will you be Jesus to "Brad"?

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when He heard this, He said, "Those who are well don't need a doctor, but the sick do. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Matthew 9:11-13