The late Mike Yaconelli wrote of a profound life-changing experience when he made a business deal with an abusive alcoholic.
Yaconelli had a popular youth and adult ministry, and at one point ran a magazine. He also wrote several books on the faith. I have personally appreciated his term “messy spirituality” which he shared to describe the ups and downs of faith and life. Sometimes we are having an experience on top of a mountain, other days we are in the valley. In fact, these ups and downs can last for months and these lows can last for months.
Yaconelli wrote that many people feel the burden of always moving forward in their faith, when in reality we sometimes take two steps back, so life and faith can be “messy.”
The profound experience he spoke of was when he and his wife welcomed into their home a young man whose father was a violent alcoholic. For six months, the young man lived with Mike and his wife.
So, Mike needed some work done on his house. His friends suggested that he hire the father of the young man who lived with him, believing it would be an opportunity for the man to do something positive.
Mike resisted the idea until his friends finally convinced him to give the man a chance. He made him sign a contract because he didn’t think he would finish the job and he knew he didn’t trust this man known for his outbursts of anger and drinking.
Weeks passed while the father worked on Mike’s house. When he finished, she called Mike and told him that he needed to discuss the bill. Mike shared that he hung up the phone and was very angry and told his wife that he knew this would happen, certain that the man was preparing to scam him.
Angrily he waited for the father to arrive, and when he did they sat in his office. The man handed the bill to Mike and said that he wanted to thank him for taking care of his son. He went on to say that he was a different man who had been attending AA meetings and was now sober.
Mike opened the account and shared that he just sat there speechless. The man had written on the bill: “Paid in full.”
Here was a living, throbbing testimony to grace, a walking presentation of the gospel message. Mike would share the story often knowing that it is by grace that we are saved, and by grace that we live and move and have our being.