Lose Yourself?

Jesus said, "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel's will save it." (Mark 8:35)
Well, that's our theme verse for this trip. How do we lose our life for Christ's sake? What does that mean? What does that look like?  I'm looking forward to trying to figure that out, and I'll let you know what we uncover.

On another note, I've had a passage running through my head that was part of a bible study I participated in a couple Sundays ago (and completely unrelated to this trip, or even Hope church).  Pardon my paraphrase, but it's how I take Job 29 to heart personally.  First, as background, we were studying the biblical principle of justice, and how very different God's view of justice is from earthly, manly, and especially the modern social view and definition.  Second, as a reminder, the very reason we know who Job is--he was the one example in humankind that God put forth as an example of a righteous man.

So what does Job 29 say, and how does it apply to a mission trip?  Job is describing, in the midst of his trials, what he was like, how he acted, and how people treated him when he was this righteous pillar.  In so doing, he describes and provides examples of how to live a Godly life.  Among his familiar words and callings are to:  rescue the poor, make the widow's heart sing, be eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, be a father to those in need.

But also in this mix, and this is really been weighing on me, is a call to seek out and find those who you are not aware of, yet are in great need of your help!  Huh...think about that one for awhile...  Whether we enterpret that as spiritually, metaphorically, or physically searching...where does that lead?

Maybe to lose yourself, for the sake of those in need, for the sake of those you don't know, for the sake of those you had to go searching for...