Become New with John Ortberg 18. A Tale of Two Worlds - with Jim Mellado
Sep 1, 2021
Jim Mellado, CEO of Compassion International and child-advocacy leader, reflects on living between extreme poverty abroad and comfort at home. He explores the soul-ripping tension of two worlds. Short conversations probe emotional cost, hard resource choices, and learning to hold beauty and brokenness together.
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Soul Ripped Between Two Realities
- Jim Mellado describes switching between living among extreme poverty and returning to opulent offices, which rips his soul as he processes suffering from afar.
- He recounts hearing nine children died after an earthquake while sitting in his comfortable office, illustrating the emotional jolt of inhabiting two worlds.
The Temptation To Simplify Hard Truths
- Binary thinking tempts us to resolve tension by ignoring inconvenient realities, like choosing abundance and avoiding poverty's pain.
- Jim Mellado explains it's easier to not look, but knowing global crises (Myanmar, earthquakes) is necessary for effective ministry.
Dangers Of All Or Nothing Thinking
- All-or-nothing thinking collapses complex people into heroes or villains, preventing us from holding good and bad together.
- John Ortberg names this distortion and links it to spiritual maturity: ability to live with tension.
