The Decade From Hell

No doubt, my favorite time of year is the Christmas season. But perhaps even more exciting than that is what follows. I am addicted to those “year in rewind” shows, and every channel’s got them!

The Top 10 Political Scandals of 09, The Top 10 Most Influential People of the year on Oprah, The Top 10 Music Videos on VH1, MTV and CMT, The Recap of Jon & Kate Plus 8 on TLC, The Weather Channel’s Worst Disasters of 09…and the list goes on.

So it seems natural that, at the dawn of a brand new decade, we look back at the previous one, if for nothing else but for a little reflection.

The new millennium was ushered in with every soul on planet earth crossing their fingers. Y2K was coming, or was it? Scary right? We had no idea what scary really was! It wouldn’t take long though to figure out; the most obvious, of course, was the September 11th terrorist attacks, no doubt the most pivotal moment of the last decade, and probably in American history.

I remember that day clearly. I had just finished a college class and decided I’d run to my car and zip to Taco Bell to grab some lunch before my next class. When I got to the parking lot it was so flooded with cars I couldn’t get out of my parking space. My first concern, of course, was the Taco Bell I most likely wouldn’t get to eat in time. Then, someone yelled out of their car window for me to turn on the radio. “America was just attacked”, they shouted. I turned on my radio and like everyone else, sat in disbelief. Could it really be? Needless to say, I forgot about the Taco Bell.

I had just joined the Air National Guard a few months earlier. I never saw this one coming. I didn’t answer my phone for a week. I was afraid of the inevitable, and the inevitable did finally come for me just a few weeks before Christmas. The dreaded orders had arrived. I was going to Afghanistan, by request of the President himself.

To reflect on the rest of the last decade makes my head hurt. No wonder Time Magazine titled their December 7, 2009 issue, “The Decade From Hell”. There was the first Wall Street crash from failing tech stocks in 2000-2001. The September 11th attacks led us into a global war on terror, including Iraq and Afghanistan. We had Anthrax letters, the D.C. snipers, the Wall Street scandals of Enron and WorldCom. Then right smack in the middle of last decade, in 2005 was the worst natural disaster in American history, Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,500 and cost more than $100 billion in damages. The slow response and chaos that followed was nothing short of disastrous.

The housing bubble is something Katie and I are personally paying for. Come to think of it, you are too. We all are. I read that the bailouts cost every American nearly $45,000 each. Yeah, you’re paying for it too. Our house has depreciated so much in value in the last 6 years from when we bought it that to sell it will equate to significant loss for us. Any renters out there? We're moving...

Wages are dropping, unemployment is soaring and Americans living below the poverty line increased to 13.3% in 2008. And our financial trouble is affecting the entire world. But it’s not just financial problems we’ve faced the last 10 years…

There were more mass shootings and school shootings like the Virginia Tech murders (32) and the recent attack on Fort Hood, than in any other decade. There were more large-scale terrorist bombings around the world in this decade than in any other. There were the never-ending Political Sex Scandals, Drug and Steroid Scandals by some of our favorite Athletes and Olympians, the Crash of the Auto Industry, soaring Gas Prices, Color-Coded Threat Levels, Abu Ghraib, Scott Peterson, Bird flu, Swine flu, (My flu, Your flu), Global Warming, Larry Craig, Bernie Madoff, Ahmadinejad, a $1.75 trillion deficit for 2009 alone, H1N1, Ted Haggard…shall I go on?

Of course, we as Christians are immune to this stuff right? After all, we live under the blessing of God. We are set apart. Aren’t we? Quite the contrary. We are set apart, but we are not immune nor should we act like we are.

To whom much is given, much is required.

As Christians, we stand at the brink of incredible opportunity. Are we outward focused, concerned and consumed with bringing light and hope into a dark and desperately lost world? Or are we inward focused, concerned about the effects of the world reaching its’ cold ugly hands into our families and homes?

What has the message of the church been this last decade? “The American Church is in DECLINE”. “Only 4% of this generation are Bible-Believing Christians”. “The American Church is following in close step with Post-Christian Europe”. “The American Church is dying”.

These messages may be true, but let’s not miss the moment. Yes, the Christian church is in decline. Yes, it’s been one hell of a decade (pardon my expression). Yes, we are definitely feeling the effects, in our churches, in our homes, in our families, in our wallets.

I’ve preached these messages. I've preached these messages with passion! I believe them. I believe that the church is in decline as much as I believe all of the other stuff I've posted in this blog.

But I also believe that the message isn’t that the church is in decline.

The message is really, “The Church is About to Dominate”.

Everyone likes to root for the underdog. Why? It’s exciting. Everyone likes a challenge. Everyone likes to see someone or something that looks like a lost cause come from behind and win. Thing is, we only look like the underdogs at the moment. Let's stop believing Christian America is a lost cause. It just looks that way right now.

So, as we look back at the last decade, and we look ahead to the start of a brand new decade, we stand at the brink of the greatest opportunity the church has ever seen.

In the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of a global war against fundamentalist terrorists and evil dictators, in the midst of a financial meltdown, in the midst of a church in decline,

Our finest hour awaits.

Join the movement.
Seize the moment.
Let’s not rewrite history; let’s create history.

What's it going to take from you? Where's the urgency? Where's the passion? Where's the selfless sacrifice? We are called to be a light to the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden or shaken. We are called to be catalysts of change, movers and shakers.

In the darkness is where the light shines the brightest.

This is the finest hour the church has ever lived.

We will rise.

We will dominate.

We will win!

Bald Little Black Girl

Her name is Anabell Nayelly Palma Mera.

She's a 6 year old little girl who lives with her mom in a small costal fishing village on the northeastern part of Ecuador. We've never met.

The information on the card is minimal. She likes dolls, going to church and is considered an average student in her kindergarden class.

But then what? What else? What else is there to know about the little girl in this picture?

This card was just one of many cards buried beneath thousands of others in a worn out cardboard box at the Catalyst Conference I attended a few months ago in Atlanta. There were no hecklers. There were no extravagant pleas for sponsorship. There was just a small table where all of the other tables were, all of the other tables that gave away free t-shirts and materials to get gullible people like me to buy their product. After all, that's why we go to conferences right? To hear speakers talk about interesting topics and then leave with a bunch of products that we don't need and that we'll never use.

At this table though, there was no product. There were no free samples to take home. Just card after card after card after card. Story after story. Picture after picture.

I have to admit, Compassion International is no stranger to me. I've been to at least a dozen conferences, concerts and events where Compassion set up the same small table. I even hosted a Worship Together Seminar at a church once. And guess who was there, with that same table covered in cards? Compassion International.

I remember spending a lot of time at their table talking to the representative. After all, he was setting up in my church, at my conference. He was nice. He had full sleeves (tattoos covering both arms for those who need to know the definition of sleeves) and gigantic spacers (earrings that stretch out the earlobes to near catastrophic extremes) and a fohawk that put mine to shame (think Ryan Seacrest). Not to mention he could definitely pull off the skinnies a lot better than I could (super tight jeans), which is much of the reason I've shelved the skinnies, at least for the winter until I can manage to shed a few pounds.

But back to the table, with the Compassion guy. He talked about how much he loved his job, traveling and supporting the cause of Compassion's kids. And what else, he didn't try to sell me or guilt me into sponsorship. Maybe he figured the pictures spoke for themselves. I mean, how anyone can stand by a Compassion table and stare at the faces of those precious children living in the most unfortunate and godless conditions and not feel the urge, the urgency, the overwhelming conviction and compassion to open up their wallet and bring one of these beautiful children into their lives is, I dunno, dead?

But who am I to judge right? I mean, dozens of opportunities passed me by. Maybe I wasn't compelled because I didn't take the time to really look, to listen, to obey. Interestingly enough, as I passed the booth at Catalyst, having just signed up for an annual subscription to the mighty Catalyst Filter, a resource for church leaders that includes being shipped the Aqua Box 4 times a year, I felt the urge, a conviction really. Here I was, spending a hundred dollars on an Aqua box that will ship me books and CD's I probably either already have or don't really need anyway, and there are pictures of children covering this table, desperate children, each with a story, a need, waiting for me to respond. So I stopped.

I asked the representative to find me a little girl, knowing that my 2 1/2 year old daughter would relate best to sponsoring a little girl closest to her own age. They began searching through a vast pile of cards and handed me two, both of which had big red letters stamped across the front, "Urgent Care Needed". That meant, I was told, that these two little girls had been to many conferences and concerts and events where many Christians had walked past the table and failed to stop.

Compassion is unique in that their cards aren't mass produced. Quite literally, each card is only produced one time, with one photo of one real child in need. What you see if what you get. If someone takes a card home, or worse yet, takes a card and tosses it in the trash, that one, real, special child in desperate need doesn't get sponsored. It can take months, even years for a child to reenter the system; time that many of these children just don't have.

So there I stood with two cards.

On one card, a bald little black girl from Africa; where exactly in Africa? I didn't look.

On the other card, a 6 year old hispanic girl from Ecuador, who looked a lot more like my own little daughter, with hair and all. So with little thought, I handed the other card back and signed up to sponsor Anabell. I wrote out my credit card information and checked the box for automatic withdraw so as to keep myself from not following through or keeping my pledge.

With my $35 dollars a month this little girl is going to be able to go to a Christian school and spend her entire childhood learning about Jesus. With my $35 dollars a month she's going to have access to medical treatment and other Christian-based programs for her and her family. And, she's going to be apart of our family. As I write this, we've begun preparing our special Christmas gift package that we're going to send her in just a few weeks. And, we'll correspond with each other. Her picture is posted on our refrigeration. I told my daughter Morgan that Anabell is her new big sister. Hopefully, in a few years I'll even be able to afford to take my family to Ecuador to meet Anabell and spend time with her and her family.

But there's something else. Something that's haunted me.

Something I haven't been able to get out of my mind.

It's that bald little black girl from somewhere in Africa.

I didn't even bother to read her card. I made a split-second judgment and chose Anabell, because she had hair. I passed on the bald little black girl because I thought my daughter would connect more with a little girl that looked more like her.

Before, having never sponsored a child, I felt okay about my life, like a good little Christian. After all, I've devoted my entire life to ministry, to helping people. The tricky thing about doing the right thing is that sometimes you suddenly realize how much of the wrong things you do. It's like, I had participated in something so pure, so honest, so heavenly that a light was illuminated inside of my heart.

It was as Isaiah 58 says, "Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon."

The motivation, the judgment, the inadequacy, the complacency; I could see it all.

And the little bald black girl from Africa; I couldn't get her out of my mind. Then I thought, what if Jesus had treated us the way I treated those two little girls?

What if, while on the cross, he looked down at me and said, "I don't relate with that guy - PASS". "That girl's gonna have an abortion - PASS". "He's going to abuse his wife and children and end up in prison for rape - PASS". "She's going to live her entire life and never realize the plans I have for her - PASS". "He's going to be selfish and ignore me - PASS".

Truth is, thank God he didn't. Jesus willingly gave his life for me, for you, for each insignificant one of us. He gave without judgement, without condition, without blinking an eye and without an ounce of second guessing. And Jesus' message for us, for Christians, for Christ-followers is not that we seek out life, but that we give out life; not that we seek out blessing but that we become the blessing; not that we demand sacrifice but that we become willing living sacrifices for the sake of his Kingdom and the good of others.

There's something illuminating, something pure, something heavenly about taking care of the needy. Jesus told the rich young ruler who had everything and had apparently kept all of the commandments since his youth that there was just one thing he was still missing, to sell his possessions and give to the poor.

A few weeks ago I received a gift from a friend. It was book and inside the front cover read, "For the guy who has everything". It's true. I have everything. And most of you do too.

I'll never know the name of that bald little black girl from Africa.

I'll never know if she was sponsored or not.

I'll never know if she grows up to know Jesus or if she dies of starvation or disease before she becomes a teenager.

But I'm only one person.

And Jesus' message to love the poor and lay down our lives wasn't just for me. It was for you too.

Jesus said in Matthew, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven."

It's more than hundred million dollar churches.

It's about loving the way Jesus loves.

It's about sacrifice and giving.

It's about meeting the needs of people.

It's about changing lives.

Maybe you're beginning to feel the urge, the conviction, the compassion to reach out this Christmas. There are children waiting. Perhaps, even the bald little black girl I passed by. I'm no representative for Compassion International, just a guy who feels the urgency to do what's right and ask others to do the same. There's always an excuse. There's always more time.

Try telling that to the 8-year-old Pakistani girl who was quoted in Newsweek as saying, "I want to have an easy job. A job where nobody hits us or hurts us."

I bet she could really use a friend. I bet she could really fall in love with a God who's sons and daughters opened their arms and wallets to her in a tangible expression of His love. And there are millions. What are you waiting for? Do something.

http://www.compassion.com