Another In The Fire

On my way home today, the song “If We Are the Body” by Casting Crowns was playing on the radio. I’ve always loved Casting Crowns, and this particular song has always been one of my favorites because I relate to it quite a lot.  Not word for word, but the basic story is about a girl who didn’t have the fatherly loving influence she needed growing up, so she eventually falls prey to “Prince Charming.”  The message of the song was always the same to me until today. 

 Before today, it was about not judging and loving one another, and it is still about that to me.  But today, it suddenly carried a different message.  Maybe it’s one you’ve figured out already, and I am just really late to the game; who knows?  Why was this girl allowed to wind up in the situation to begin with?  Why was this girl in and around the church allowed to be left alone to this point?  Maybe I’m misunderstanding; maybe she’s not in the church to begin with but hear me out.  Bear with me just a minute here…. For argument’s sake, let’s say she has been in church – why was no man willing to approach her mother/guardian and ask to mentor this girl so she knew what a father’s love was?  We are Christians, are we not?  

We are called to be Jesus’ hands and feet, yet we allow children like the girl in this song to slip through the cracks daily.  Why is there an issue like that?  I know this is a super-simplified solution that is not necessarily as easily done as told, but what if we, as Christians, decided to start somewhere?  What if the girl in this song had someone take an interest in her in a healthy way and steered her away from the pain that ultimately came from her vulnerability?  That is what Satan does.  He looks for your vulnerability.  He finds your weakness and pokes and prods until you slip.  That’s all it takes.  Well, if all it takes is for us to strengthen each other, then that should be simple.  It’s already in the Bible.  The apostle Paul wrote several times about the subject, and it always had to do with making sure that Christians were of one accord and found strength with each other. 

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  Philippians 2:4 states, “Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”  Romans chapter 14 has a lot to say about the subject.  

We should care for each other when not all have the resources needed and nurture each other when things are hardest.  That is how we keep our people safe.  It just takes a commitment of more than just Sunday mornings.  

Instead, the people in the song look down on this girl as she becomes an unwed mother, and they turn their backs on her… again.  If those same people had only embraced her and given her what she needed beforehand, she may not be in this situation.  The judgment they are bestowing is not theirs to bestow and also says so much more about the condition of their hearts than it does about her.  

Who do you see in need of a moment of understanding?  Nurturing?  Love?  Perhaps all they need is a moment of your time or a speck of your resources.  What if the next time you see a fatherless or motherless child, you decide to make sure they know the love of God in at least one person today?  Maybe you could be the one to change someone’s life for an eternity.