The marks of the ‘Good and Faithful’…in Memory of Billie Mortis.

I am still processing the loss of a friend this past week.
If the dictionary had a description of a faithful servant with rough edges it would be my friend Billie.
He didn’t care what position you held or the title you used. He didn’t treat anyone any differently based on social status or education. He never pretended to know everything nor did he wear a mask to hide those rough, street-smart edges.

He was the kind of person I admired.
There weren’t any false pretenses or ulterior motives and you always knew where you stood with him because he never held back on his opinions and suggestions. He had a quick sense of humor and often could give it as much as he could take it.

But do you know what I admired the most about my friend?
It was his ability to care about others. You see, that’s the mark of a good and faithful servant of God. Billie would often go the extra mile for the youth at his corps. He would pull a troubled teen aside and lovingly, yet firmly, tell them the error of their ways. It was never done with the judgment of a pharisee, but rather the love of a person who had gone down some of those same roads in his younger years. He understood the heartache of young people who didn’t have the adult parental role model that they needed at home. He often took it upon himself to call wayward teens who had made poor choices and he often became their voice of reason. He did all of that because he cared.

Billie served right alongside former drunks, drug addicts, the homeless, mentally ill men, and women. He served the marginalized and did it all without any kind of need for recognition. I admired that about him. He was driven by a love that far exceeded his own capacity to love because He knew the Author of love – God.

Long after Shanais and I had left the ministry there in Evansville, where he lived, Billie would still call me and text me to check in. He would often call during the Christmas kettle season, saying something like, “Don’t you miss it?” (meaning the chaos and the craziness of driving around unique bell ringers and all the stories that came with it). Sometimes Billie would call me up to ask for advice about reaching particular young people he felt were drifting from their faith in God. Other times I would receive a text from him after my Chicago Cubs had lost another game or his St Louis Cardinals had gone on a winning streak. I’m going to miss his ribbing and humor. I was thinking about texting him on the same day that I received the sudden news of his passing. I had a whole text message drafted in my mind containing some ribbing of my own as the Cardinals were in a slump – truth be told so were the Cubs, but I didn’t care.

Billie was a good friend to so many people.
He loved deeply, warts and all.
Perhaps someday I’ll be brave enough to love so unabashedly as he did. To call out the “crap” when he saw it, without being embarrassed to “call it like it is.” Sometimes the truth hurts, but people need to hear it from a source of care and love. He had the marks of the “good and faithful” and, despite the fact that I know Billie is with the Lord today, I know his church family (Which went far beyond the walls of any church) is greatly missing him, just as I am.

My heart wants to find some sort of lesson in all of this, but I think Billie’s testimony and life speak for themselves.
“Well done good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” Matthew 25:21