Feeling Violated

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.