I recently read this article in the local newspaper: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100319/NEWS06/3190342/Nashville+churches+consider+ban+on+trespassers. The article, and most of the comments thereto, constitute a sad commentary on the attitude of the church toward society's undesireables.
At the outset, I should note that one of the congregations in the article claims it reached out to a homeless man who was trespassing on its property, without success. I do not know to what lengths the church went to be reconciled to the man. I do know that Lord Jesus instructed us to forgive without limit, and having the man arrested and removed from church property seems like an odd way to extend forgiveness. I also acknowledge that vandalism, burglary, arson, and drug dealing are all inexcuseable activites that must be addressed.
But a couple of aspects of this story really bother me. First, in having the police arrest trespassers on church property, the church's main concern seems to be protecting to a great degree its respectability, but even more its property. This strikes me as inconsistent with the prayer I've heard uttered so often before the contribution plate is passed, wherein we acknowledge that all of this belongs to God anyway. Thus, we have an excellent example of why the church should not own property. Once the church becomes a property-owner, it takes steps to protect its interests; it becomes (even more?) self-seeking. Instead of rejoicing in persecution, (Matt. 5:10-11), the church effectively eliminates any potential threat to its property. Instead of love for enemies, the church has them incarcerated. There is no willingness to sacrifice our property, much less our lives. After all, if the church has died to self, what can any trespasser do unto the church? Even the threat of death, much less a vandalized basketball goal, loses its sting, because you can't kill something that has already died. If we have died to ourselves, then we can truly love without condition, forgive without limit, welcome even those who would do us harm. Do homeless people sleep on our steps and piss behind our building? Are our walls tarnished with spray paint? No matter! None of this is ours anyway! We will love even still and never repay evil for evil. Rather, we will overcome evil with good! Basketball goals can be repaired, walls can be painted. And perhaps if we regard the homeless man and even the drug dealers as our Christ, we will devise a more creative way of loving them than calling the cops! God Almighty, have mercy on your church!
But there is another aspect of this story, a more covert and subtle blasphemy that troubles me deeply. By giving permission to the police to arrest trespassers after a certain hour, the church is essentially trusting Caesar to protect that which belongs to God. The church has no business running to the principalities and powers to ask them for their protection. The church is called to trust in God alone, not in security cameras, badges, and certainly not guns.
Perhaps God will allow a drug deal to take place in a church parking lot. Perhaps God will allow a basketball goal to be vandalized. Perhaps God will allow a church building to be burned to the ground. God has allowed these things to happen before. The church, however, must take the risk of trusting in God alone, as did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They had faith that God would protect them, but they noted that even if He did not, they would not bow down to the emperor, even though by doing so they could have saved their own lives. And what is at stake here? Bricks and mortar! Are we so quick to worship at the altar of an idol?
It strikes me that the congregations featured in this article are acting above all out of fear. And yet Lord Jesus tells us to fear not. If we believe Him, we have nothing to fear. Having died to ourselves, we have nothing to lose. There is nothing anyone can do to us, nothing anyone can take from us, for we surrendered it all to Jesus a long time ago. We need not protect our reputation. It belongs to Jesus. We need not protect our property. That too is His. We need not even seek to preserve our own lives. In fact, only by losing our lives will we ever find them. They are hid with Christ.
To the homeless, we say come. To the vandals, there's a place for you too. To those who would do us harm, we proclaim, as did Martin Luther King, Jr., that we will love you without condition. We do nothing out of fear, for God's love has cast it all out. "This day throw open all your houses, and forever. And love, not fear, the many poor." - Thomas Merton
