Tomorrow morning San Diego will be all a buzz about how great it carried
off the Major League Baseball All Star Game. It will brag about the crowds, the
full hotels, and the generous boost to the economy. The lines will be longer at
the airport the next few days as the many who came for the game depart, and
things will begin to get back to normal. And for those who visited, they will
have gotten the view of San Diego the Chamber of Commerce wanted them to see.
America’s Finest City, the claim goes, and based on the weather, it is. And if
you stayed within the ball park area downtown, it was clean, safe, and free from
crime and the homeless. The presence of police will have made the attendees
feels safe, and only until they receive their credit card bill next month will
they not know how much their good time cost. And many will think of moving
here, for the beaches, the climate, the cleanliness and friendliness of the
city. But tomorrow when San Diego wakes up, and things start returning to
normal, those of us who call it home will return to the reality of America’s Not
So Finest City.
The homeless who were herded out of the area for the week, will start to
move back in. Sleeping in tents on 15th and Market, just a few blocks from
Petco Park. The hookers will be back, the druggies and junkies moving back into
the area they call home. Regular season games will restart again for the last
place Padres, while the mayor and the city will still be held hostage by the
Spanos family, threatening to leave if they don’t get a new stadium, but still
cannot field a team that can reach the .500 level. Rivers will throw passes,
and interceptions, and no other city in America wants them. And as the
referendum appears in November for a 20% hotel tax, hopefully the voters will
say no to the mayor and his self seeking minions.
Come back to San Diego after a rain storm and find the beaches closed from
sewage escaping from Mexico. After every storm. Try to find work and find too
many undocumented aliens have taken it. Try to find housing, and find multi
family homes used to be single family homes, now with two or more families
residing, just to make rent. If they can find a place to rent. Move out of
downtown, and expect an hour plus for a 20 mile ride to work. Gasoline here is
a dollar more than most of the US of A, but hey at least the weather is always
good. And as San Diego wakes up from its stupor after the game, we see that
maybe behind the curtain of the All Star Game our city needs help. Maybe like
Dorothy, we should have heeded the wizards advice, and not peeked behind the
curtain. For what we saw was not what we get.
A few years back I had lunch with a pastor friend, and when I asked “how
was your year?” he responded “we met all our bills.” What a strange answer,
from a man who is thought to be serving God, but expected in today’s climate.
But success in many churches is found in the budget being met, the congregation
growing, or the Pastor’s new book selling well. Inside the four walls all is
safe and secure, but outside all hell is breaking loose. Really the church may
be rotting from inside, safe and secure they kept the world out, not realizing
they let it in, locked the doors and won’t let it out. When Jesus told us to be
the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, he told us we had to get out
and do it, not sit huddled behind locked doors with a security team patrolling
the parking lot. Until the church is out doing what the gospel promises,
feeding the poor, and providing for widows and orphans, before the gospel has
been shown to all in word and deed, the church is a failure. Paul knew this,
and was only encouraged by the spirit, as no church without the spirit could
provide the help he needed.
Today we have many huge churches, with campuses to minister. Programs,
processes, and procedures to keep the flock busy. Entertained. Some of the
encouraging words God spoke to Paul were “I have many people in this city...”
and we do, many Christians who call upon the name of the Lord. But too many are
like the All star fans, in it for the good time, what God can do for them. How
great a chance to witness of God’s greatness by showing his love, not only to
strangers, but to the homeless, lost, and hurting who call San Diego home? Are
we really a fine city at all without the gospel going forth? Where is our
confidence in Christ that knowing he brought all these people here, that he will
provide a means to minister to them? Can the churches of San Diego even welcome
the spirit that draws men to Christ, and deal with the stirring of the spirit
when they come?
Today you may be the only Bible a person may read. The only example of a
Christian someone needs to have minister to them. Will you stay inside or will
you be out in the light of the Lord? Will you be salting souls or pouring salt
into wounds? You may be faced with condemnation, ridicule, maybe even be
threatened, but God promises to be with you. You read your Bible, you study
history, doesn’t it tell us every time the church was threatened the church
grew? Or doesn’t your in house philosophy allow that? Paul came to the
Corinthians in weakness and with fear and trembling. Yet he knew what the
spirit was calling him to do, and he knew God had gone ahead to make a path.
America’s finest city isn’t until we get out of the church and into the
community in the love of Jesus. The spirit is calling, the flesh is weak. What
city you wake up to tomorrow depends on who you wake up with. Do not let the
sun set on your anger or shame, or pride. God will provide where he guides.
Imagine a stadium built to house God’s people to meet! How the church responds
to the call of the gospel will tell more about you and your church than you may
want us to know. So get out and live the gospel you are taught in church. See
Jesus in action, cast a vote for him and freedom. And with no tax increases.
All but a Democrat would vote for that! Is it possible only you and your
refusal to share Jesus are keeping San Diego from truly becoming America’s
Finest City?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com