Need + Resource = No-Brainer

My wife and I were watching the bonus features at the end of St. Vincent (great movie, by the way). In an interview, Bill Murray was asked whether it was true that he once drove a taxi while the taxi driver rode in the back seat playing a saxophone.

In his typical nonchalant way, Murray explains the that the story was true, and he elaborated on the details. It went something like this . . .

“I needed to take a cab across town. So the guy pulls up and I get in. I talk to him, and I ask him what he likes to do. He says he likes to play the saxophone, but he doesn’t have much time to play. I ask, “Why not?” and he explains that he has to work so much.

I then asked him where his saxophone is, and he says it’s in the trunk. So I say, “How about I drive your taxi, while you sit back here and play?”

And that’s what we did. I drove to where I needed to go, while the guy plays his saxophone.”

(And if I remember correctly, there was also a stop for some barbecue or something.)

Need + Resource = No-Brainer

As the interviewer and audience are dumbfounded at this story (A famous actor is driving his own taxi!), Murray acts like it is no big deal. Not just that, he expects that we all should do the same type of things.

“This guy, who’s just a regular human being, had a need. He wanted to play his instrument. But he didn’t have time.

I, on the other hand, had time, and I knew how to drive his vehicle. He had a need, and I could meet that need. I don’t see why this is a big deal. It’s a no-brainer.”

As far as I know, Bill Murray is not an evangelical Christian, but in this example he is living out the Christian faith better than most of us. Like him, serving others should be effortless. If we have a resource that someone needs, we should automatically fill that need.

We have seen this “no-brainer” perspective when people have donated to and served with Clubhouse Kids (A Testimony to Your Love). And we saw it when I asked for some drinks and snacks, and received 400 juice boxes. To these people, giving their time and money was a no-brainer.

What’s Your “No-Brainer”?

So, for you, what resource do you have that could meet someone’s need? What skill do you have, or what sliver of time, or what resource can you sacrifice, that will bless someone else’s life?

The gifts that God has given you are not for you. They are intended to glorify Him and to serve others.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

“‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” (I Corinthians 12:7)

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” (James 2:17)