I was in Milwaukee this past week for our District’s annual
conference. Just prior to the end of the
enriching, inspiring event, something happened…vandalism to several cars in the
parking lot. Someone I spoke to commented
that they felt violated (theirs was one of the cars with damage.) Others took it in stride praying their Bibles
would impact the theives, while still others are claiming they won’t go back.
I’ve spent some time thinking about that…our fear of those
we are supposed to be ministering to.
And the concept that we should always feel safe and secure and that bad
things like this don’t happen to people is totally unfounded. But then we’re a denomination of rural churches
who feel safe in their hometowns. is it
just our denomination though? Don’t most
churches build in the outskirts?
When we live in the “civilized world,” we don’t always
accept the fact that people live in the midst of drugs and crime every
day. We don’t want to imagine the fact
that people all over the world (including our country) live in fear of being
robbed or violated in some other way.
Yet the bulk of our population lives in cities where this is as
common as our rural Master Gardeners Clubs.
As Christians, we are called to minister to the less
fortunate…yet we remain in the comfort of our safe homes and neighborhoods. We send others, but justify not traveling to
a church that might present danger to our material possessions. Isn’t the loss of our property worth a lost
soul won for Jesus?
I know. I lived in
Milwaukee…in fact only a few blocks from where the incident occurred. And trust me, this isn’t the worst part of
town. I know what it’s like to hear
gunshots two doors down at two in the morning.
I know the fear of threats to kidnap your child because ‘red-heads bring
the best price,’ long before “human trafficking” was a phrase. To those who are upset their cars were broken
into, think about someone walking into your home while you are asleep and
robbing you…twice in one week!
In hindsight, I see many times that the hand of God protected
me and those entrusted to our care, like the Christian college students from
out of town staying with us, who wandered off and got lost in the inner
city. But like God was with Gideon when
the numbers were against them, like he was with a young man sold into slavery
by his brothers, like he was with a
frightened ill-equipped man sent to make demands on Pharaoh, as He stood with
three faithful men in a fiery furnace…He’s with us today. So if you walk in fear and feel violated when
little things happen, pray for those around the world facing real violations,
people who are truly helpless to protect themselves, people who don’t even
dream of owning the many things we possess.
Maybe you want to ask God to show you how to help them. But be careful…God may call you to personally
“go” instead of just writing a check this time.
