The pearl of great price and mentoring?

"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it." - Matthew 13:45-46

The pearl of great price… always been a mystery to me. I’m not into jewelry and expensive things. My jewelry consists of a watch and a ring. I think of myself as pretty practical and conservative. What in the world would a pearl have to do with God’s Kingdom? This seems mighty irrational to me. What’s a pearl got to do with Jesus’ ministry of healing and redeeming lives?

In further review I found a few aspects of the story that make sense for me regarding how God operates in the world, and pointers for Kinship’s ministry.

Quality over quantity

This is a story about investing it all for just one pearl. Isn’t that risky business? What if the merchant loses the one pearl, or if it turns out to be a fake? What we chose to invest in might seem like folly to others. At Kinship I’m sometimes frustrated with how costly it can be to recruit, screen, match, and provide follow-up support to mentors and their kids. There are plenty of programs that serve thousands of youth for considerably less. However I’m reminded of a camp director that wanted to pair up with Kinship, because so often those programs can provide a brief, perhaps mountaintop experience, but then kids return home and have little reinforcement of their experience.

We need to be willing to invest big in things of great value

Such as the kingdom of God and our kids. We need to be shrewd investors, like this merchant. Small investments have the potential for small yields. I’m reminded of the biblical story about Mary and Martha, and the Martha's lavish use of expensive perfume on Jesus' feet. I’m one of those conservative guys that wouldn’t want to spend money on things like perfume and pearls. Yet, Jesus reminds us, the Kingdom work is to be done now… building relationships with kids is welcoming Jesus. And just like Martha, we shouldn’t be frugal with those relationships and our resources.

Pearls are formed out of a difficult environment

Pearls are grains of sand which find themselves inside of an oyster. The oyster builds the pearl because of the irritation it feels from the sand. I think that there are plenty of adults who consider kids, and especially those who might be lacking social skills, nothing but irritation. However with support despite their adversity, or perhaps because of their adversity, when given guidance and support, they become pearls. That growth is not without pain however. A kid from a single parent home living in an apartment in a rough part of town of lacks social courtesies. Sadly, that too often is a throw away kid, not someone who we might think of as a pearl, and worth a great investment of our time and financial resource.

God’s kingdom shouldn’t be contained within a shell

Sometimes people have confused church buildings with God’s kingdom. However if our work is confined to within the building walls we are a lot like a pearl that never sees the light of day. Efforts like Kinship seek to redefine the mentality of the church and God’s Kingdom from being a fortress to being manifest when we are in caring and supportive relationship with others, especially in their times of need.

Kingdom work is relationship building, across the divides, between rich and poor. Throughout Jesus’ preaching he was always hammering on caring for the poor, and orphans. He even said pure ministry undefiled is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. James 1:27

A pearl of great price and mentoring kids... perhaps not such a stretch after all?