I Want to Be a Different Kind of First Responder

When the news of this weekend’s winter storm hit, I thought:
• I should probably bring the snowblower up from the basement.
• We probably won’t have church this weekend.
• I hope my wife can make it home from the airport Saturday night.

This is how my daughter responded:
“omg what are all the homeless people gonna do ?! please pray for them 😢”

We are inundated with headlines of insecure people in power leveraging cruelty when targeting the categories of people Jesus said were his litmus test of the church: the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned (Matthew 25). Church people and government agencies in my social media feeds have both celebrated the violence while quoting Bible verses or referencing Bible stories. That blasphemy doesn’t make me question my faith or see Jesus any differently, but it makes me consider every week if this American religion aligns with Christ’s words.

That dark cloud is lined with the Savior’s empathy, emphasis, and example that breaks through from hearts like my daughter’s. Today, she reminded me of what Jesus told the religious leaders of his day were his only two commandments: love God with a full heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Today, my wife distributed backpacks filled with school supplies to Nicaraguan elementary students who look like the children that masked, flak-jacketed agents have either abducted into black SUVs or pepper-sprayed in their car seats.

Injustice is everywhere. Hatred hides behind policies. Darkness looms like the clouds that are about to dump snow, sleet, and freezing rain on my driveway.

But compassion is, too.

For every racist who repeatedly knees citizens in the face, there’s a soft heart doing what it can. For every bulletproof-vested bully who racially profiles veterans, off-duty police officers, and students, there’s a sacrificially generous servant. For every Christian nationalist justifying their government’s injustice, there’s someone whose first response to a hurting soul is “please pray for them 😢”