This is going to get ugly…but who cares?

A couple of years ago while living in the city I had to deal with some neighbors of mine that were…well law breakers. They were selling drugs, sex, and always asking me for money. I tried my best to help out this family. I put them in contact with several organizations to help them but they didn’t want help. So, I stopped trying and within a few weeks of this they were evicted.

The apartment was all but condemned and took months and thousands of dollars to get the place into a sellable condition. Yet, I still tried to help out this mother and her family. I had compassion for her…much to the chagrin of my roommates and people I talked to. I didn’t want to see her to continue to be in the rut that was ultimately ruining her life.

She had 5 ( I think) kids who were never in school, stealing cars (with infants in the back seat), crashing said stolen cars, and trying to find new ways to lie and cheat at everything. But, I didn’t want to give up on her. I wanted to see her accomplish something. I could see in her eyes that she didn’t want to be living this way.

I had many conversations with her about God, church, and her family. I tried to get her to come to church with me but she was always busy. Sometimes, church can be intimidating and I understand that. A single mom shows up to most churches and she might get weird looks or even be asked to leave.

Truth be told most people aren’t equipped to handle things like this. Not that I am any kind of expert but I’m a people person. I love talking to people and seeing what makes them tick.

I often wonder what happened to her and her family. I also wonder if I did enough. But, I did. I did everything I could to help her and when my limited “expertise” ran out I directed her to people more suitable.

This is the real world. This is a messy place. Sometimes, people aren’t going to walk through the doors of our church. We have to get into the streets and meet people where they are.

It really frustrates me when I see people in church who are “too busy” to help. Or, who think it’s solely the pastors job to “get dirty”. No where in the Bible does Jesus ever say that we are just supposed to sit around and wait for people to come seek us out.

I have very little tolerance for people who are “too busy”. People need help. They need emotional support, physical help, spiritual healing, you name it. How long are people who call themselves Christians going to sit around and ignore the needs of others?

This is going to get ugly…but who cares? I do

 

Higgins