Due to the significant repairs needed on our 8 year old car, I bought a new car...slightly used but a 2008 car, same color and make as my last one. I picked it up on Friday evening and drove it to Men's Breakfast on Saturday morning. While I was praying for some men over breakfast, some angry person was taking a crow bar to my new car's trunk.
When I found it, I was obviously upset but two other reactions quickly shoved the anger out of the way.
First, stuff is just stuff, even when it's new stuff. I think I heard the Spirit whisper, "it's only a car, it's only a car".
The second thought was, "I can't imagine how broken an angry that person is who attacked my car simply because it was shiny and new." My car with the dented trunk was probably ten times nicer than anything they had ever owned.
Third, "how safe is the neighborhood I minister in?" Not all that safe. In the past 18 months robberies, multiple murders, and various other crimes have occurred within a small radius of our church. Which simple means this...we are at the right place. We are where the gospel is needed. We are called to reach, teach and mend a broken neighborhood because that's what Jesus would do.
Events like this can make me pine for a nicer suburban church, such as the ones I have turned down on multiple occassions. But these events can also make me more resolved to remain where I am "for the good of the hood". Amen! "For the good of the hood"
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