Apr 24, 2013

SCSC, Veteran Style

by David Pottinger

 

 

For those of you who don’t know, “SCSC” stands for Summer Christian Service Corps. Summer Christian Service Corps is a leadership program for SDB high school graduates and college-age students that is sponsored by the SDB Women’s Society.

This program has been designed to develop spiritual growth, promote emotional stability, and support the growth of leaders in our denomination. It equips accepted students with skills needed to be a leader in any environment as well as a server to those in need.

Now that you know what SCSC is, you probably want to know who I am. My name is David Pottinger. I’m a member of the Southeast Atlanta SDB church and I’m an SCSC veteran. I’ve participated in SCSC consecutively for five years, so you could say that I’m “well-seasoned.”

Participating in SCSC was one of the best things that I could have done for myself. I look at my participation in the Corps as a long-term investment which has already begun to yield fruitful results in my life.

For each project that I was assigned to, I was placed in a completely new environment where I had to adjust to the norms and practices of people who were around me. At times this was difficult because I grew up as an only child who was always introverted.

In my mind each project seemed to produce ever-present shockwaves that caused me to lose my balance in “my world” that I thought I controlled. This instability, however, allowed me to see my vulnerabilities for what they were, and it gave me an opportunity to see God work in my life in a new way.

I know everyone has been there; that moment when your heart is in your throat and you say, “They want me to do that??! I’ll pitch over before I even open my mouth!” That was me when I was asked to preach at the Seattle Area SDB Church during 2012 SCSC training.

I couldn’t believe that I was asked to give a sermon! This was entirely out of my comfort zone and this request was presented to an individual who didn’t even like to sit in front of a church. To be totally honest, I felt completely defeated the moment my project director asked me to take on the task. So I thought to myself, “Okay, I’ll see what happens.”

Let’s fast forward to the week that my sermon was due. I began to gather my notes. As I prepped myself, I realized that God started showing me areas in my life that I needed to change. One area was my attitude towards individuals who were unkind or just plain-out abrasive to me.

Everyone in the work world can relate to this. As I paid more attention to this self-inspection process I saw that I had forgiven the people who had hurt me, but I still laughed at jokes that were made about them on the job. This was not Christ-like, and as a Christian, it was my responsibility to always be the salt in every situation.

So as I continued to prepare the sermon I realized God showed me an area in my life that I could use as a practical example on how to be Christ-like in the work world.

Just so you know, my sermon went well, and I was able to get over my fear of speaking for an extended period of time in front of large groups. One of my favorite Christian rappers, Andy Mineo, made a Facebook quote that I thought was quite profound. He said, “Pray for your enemies. Even if they never change, you will.”

Displaying this kind of humility is what God requires of us in our everyday lives, and we should always remember to be the salt wherever we go. SCSC, Veteran Style.