Walking Into The Darkness

I awoke to a city that had been under siege. Well into the night, SWAT, National Guard and Emergency risked their lives and injury to prevent rioting from a group that have no true understanding of life. As the city made national news and tweets and Facebook posts flooded the cyberscape, my heart grew heavy. (The last time I encountered this was during the flooding of Irene in 2011.) My heart was challenged.

It was not race or religion that fueled this rioting but alcohol fueled college students looking for a place to put their “rage”. While property was destroyed the nearby Pumpkin Festival was drawing families and friends. Perhaps the pride of the community, the annual festival now scarred by outrageous behavior.

Rant-if “well meaning” parents keep avoiding the truth, thinking “entitled” life is something to be passed on, sending their clueless children with no life thought process into life in places of “higher education” and that at $35,000 per year they will somehow “get it”…well, you are sadly mistaken. All the iPads, cell phones and videos will not prepare them for life. Rant over.

Oh, I know all the talking points. College, alcohol, student loans,lack of respect, entitlement… But the root of it is a moral bankruptcy. The church is not the last bastion of morality and respect…it is the only one. When children are taught their lives have no meaning (evolution) and their lives will be better by going to college and getting “educated” while wisdom and Truth are tossed out the window, this is the result.

My own daughter said to me upon her college graduation. “Dad, I was really mad at you that I had to work while at college. But now that I am here, unlike a lot of my friends who wasted their time partying, I know why you did it.”

The missionless will always take. The mission filled will always give.

A city will rebuild. Many will leave (expulsion, arrest, disgrace) and there will be those who will repair and rebuild. Perhaps they will announce the end to the Pumpkin Festival(Sad, because it is not the families and friends who are the problem.)and announce new laws and new rules. But, rules and laws do not make people perform better. It may modify behavior but it will never change them. 1 Corinthians 15:56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. More laws-more sin. For the sake of some unruly people, others will lose a lot. (A lot like a pigeon, they take of everything and crap all over everything!)

When I took this picture(At top) of “Ferguson” and “Student loans” I was concerned and mentioned saying that to someone. “How crazy is that? Rioting…college…” Since the KSC riot, I sit here and know 3 things. 1-The church must pray. 2-The church must move into darkness. 3-The church must have a plan for these folks.

Of course we must pray. That is who we are and what we do. But, how do we move into darkness? Jesus went where the morally bankrupt were. He did not avoid them. He sought them out. And finally, what do we do when they show?

You can have all the anger, all the talking points, even all the reasons, but at the end of the day…embrace your mission and pursue it with passion.