BOGO Kids

I admit it. I hate shopping. Especially window-shopping. When I must shop, it goes something like this: I know what I need, I go straight to it in the store, I buy it, I’m outta there. Do not pass GO. Do not collect (or spend) $200. But as much as I loathe shopping, there is one marketing strategy that gets me every time. “Buy One, Get One Free,” or “BOGO” as it has come to be affectionately known, is a deal I can’t pass up. The idea of getting something free is just too tempting.

While BOGO makes for a brilliant advertising campaign, the concept is not new. In fact, a careful look at Scripture reveals that the Jews used it long before it hit your local mall. In teaching His disciples how they should respond to inevitable opposition, Jesus says in Matthew 10:29, “Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny? But not one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing it.” When Luke writes about the same conversation in Luke 12:6, Jesus employs the BOGO concept. “Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies? But God does not forget even one of them.” In other words, the 5th sparrow was free. (Okay, so technically that’s Buy 4, Get 1, but who can pronounce BFGO?) The point is that every week Crosswalk sees hundreds of “5th sparrows” — kids who feel absolutely worthless — and we have the opportunity to let them know just how valuable they are.

In the past couple of months I have been struck by the number of kids who have shared these feelings. One of these was a young man we’ll call Riley whom I met at our monthly birthday party at the Clayton RYDC. We were winding it up and the officer was getting the kids ready to go back to their unit when Riley asked if he could talk to me privately. The officer allowed it, so I sat down across the table from him and gently asked how I could pray for him.

“All my mom ever tells me is what a failure I am,” he said. “I hear it so much, I believe it myself. How can I ever make something of myself when everybody expects me to fail?” As we talked further, it became clear that he believes his mother does not love him because he is worthless. Performance-based love often creates 5th sparrows. Riley is one of them. These “BOGO kids” must be told and shown the love of God that treasures each of them as His unique creation. Just as the characters in J.J. Heller’s song, these 5th sparrows cry, “Who will love me for me?”

God Talk: Inside the RAV—Ransom

“Love Me” (J.J. Heller)

He cries in the corner where nobody sees
He's the kid with the story no one would believe
He prays every night "Dear God won't you please...
Could you send someone here who will love me?"

Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
'Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means.

Her office is shrinking a little each day
She's the woman whose husband has run away
She'll go to the gym after working today
Maybe if she was thinner then he would've stayed
And she says...

Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
'Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means

He's waiting to die as he sits all alone
He's a man in a cell who regrets what he's done
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
"Oh, Lord, forgive me; I want to go home."
Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside
And it said,"I know you've murdered and I know you've lied;
I have watched you suffer all of your life,
And now that you'll listen, I'll tell you that I...

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you; I will give you the love
The love that you never knew.