Feb
2
2015
Crossroads Moments
Posted in Discipleship 2 Comments
The story I read encouraged me.
The follow-up reports that I read disturbed me.
I had to sort through the range of feelings I had concerning the story.
I had to put it all in perspective.
A seventeen-year-old Florida man was being arrested.
This young man had previous arrests for criminal mischief and burglary.
He was being booked for burglary again as this story unfolded.
This particular burglary was a parole violation.
Many people would write off this young man.
Many people would think that there is nothing redeeming about him.
He is already on the wrong track.
He can’t turn his life around.
However, as he was being booked for this latest burglary, something happened.
It was one of those crossroads moments.
It was a moment that should have its own announcer saying, Pay attention.
It was a moment where this young man, on the wrong track, became an unlikely hero.
The officer, who was booking the young man, collapsed with a heart attack.
Through video surveillance, you can see the whole incident unfold.
The young man was sitting across the room in handcuffs.
He got up from his chair and began kicking the door to get other officers’ attention.
Three officers came running, opened the locked door, and went into emergency mode.
The young man stood there, off to the side and respectfully watched this fallen officer.
It was noted in the article that the responding officers had to use a defibrillator.
They were able to restart the man’s heart.
The story warmed my heart.
This young man, so easily written off by society, showed compassion.
Simple humanity was displayed in that booking room.
A police officer and criminal on opposite sides of the law and opposite sides of the room.
They were brought together by a simple human need.
One was in trouble.
One responded.
He responded without thinking of the adversaries they were just moments before.
The young man’s quick response in summoning the other officers made all the difference.
The officer is alive because he got the help he needed.
All four officers, along with the young man, were honored at a city council meeting.
A picture of all the men shows the young man standing next to the officer he helped.
What disturbed me was the response to the story as other newspapers covered it.
Thug is an unlikely hero, was one glaring headline.
Thug.
That was the label he was given.
I pondered my reaction to all of this.
What was bothering me?
The word, thug.
In reality, that word can be used to describe all of us.
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
(Romans 3:9-18)
Those words do not just describe the young man who was being arrested.
Those words describe all of us.
We may not be a thief, but we may lie, or cheat, or gossip, or lust.
There is no one who does good, not even one.
Before coming to Jesus for our salvation, those words describe who we really are.
Even after coming to Christ, we will still sin this side of heaven.
However, now saved by trusting in Jesus alone, we want to seek God.
We fear Him with holy awe and reverence.
In order for this young man to turn his life around, he needs the Lord.
Anything we do on our own will not last unless there is a heart change.
We need a new heart, filled with the Holy Spirit, to live a life that is pleasing to God.
We need to be changed from the inside, out.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23)
His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning.
A clean slate.
There is only one label: Forgiven.
That forgiveness is the launch pad from which we can begin again.
There are still consequences for our sin.
Just like there are issues this young man will have to work out in his life.
However, to begin again from a place of forgiveness is very freeing indeed.
An unlikely hero.
A bit of humanity where you least expect it.
A crossroads moment that may change the focus of the rest of your life.
We need others who will come alongside to show us the way.
I pray for this young man.
His life may now be headed in a very different direction.
He sees what he is made of, down deep.
The image of God that is in all of us came to the surface.
By the grace of God, the change will be sustained.
Good post… when I read the news account, I too prayed for this young man’s life to turn around. I wondered if those around him would encourage him to change his life and find Christ.
Al,I truly hope so…a new beginning, a life in Christ.
May there be even one to come alongside him.
Gina