I was listening to a service on my iPod today from Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids where Rob Bell teaches. He was interviewing a woman who moved with her family in to the Black Hills community, a tough neighborhood (maybe the toughest) in Grand Rapids. This woman has been serving the neighborhood and being the presence of Christ on her street. She was talking about her role in the lives of the children in her neighborhood and it was awesome. Then she started talking about a time last summer when she heard gunfire on her block. The gunfire became a regular event, and she began to question whether God REALLY wanted her (and her children) to live there, so close to danger. She said that, in her opinion, no child, including her own, should have to grow up in that sort of dangerous social environment. It was at that point that I sighed and said to her (through my iPod), "God, STAY!"
Well, of course, she stayed. The community at her church started praying for the neighborhood, and the people in the house where the gunshots came from just disappeared. That's cool.
Here's the thing. I know soooo many followers of Jesus who are making 'sensible' decisions to protect their children from potentially dangerous situations, and I think, "God, STAY!" I had a couple of thoughts on that as I reflected today:
- It's easy for me to encourage people to stay in dangerous situations. I'm not committed to any dangerous environments myself. Maybe that should change.
- Why is it that Christians with resources run from 'the fires' in our communities? Should we not be running in to the fire? I think that mature Christians can better demonstrate their confidence in God's power in the world by staying in crummy situations.
- God... I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to choose my living conditions. Most of the families in the Black Hills neighborhood might like to choose to live elsewhere. They just don't have the resources to go anywhere else.
- Even though I can choose where I want my kids to grow up, I'm burdened by the responsibility I have as a follower of Jesus to live by his example, to be on the side of the oppressed and under-resourced. I don't know if I'm faithful to follow him in that way. I don't know.
- I need a community of God's people around my family who will encourage us to 'stay' when we are faced with opportunities to bail on the tough things that God calls us to.
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