"Why did God choose you to be Bo's mommy?"
"Does Boaz miss Korea?"
"Did you and Daddy always want to adopt?"
These questions posed by our older children blossom from a place of sweet innocence and curiosity.
The questions and comments we've received from "big people" are a lot more pointed.
"Did you stay home the first month to make sure you guys weren't carrying anything from over there?"
"Does he have any infectious diseases?"
"Boaz had all his vaccinations, right?"
It can be slightly awkward to politely navigate these and other questions. I resist replying, 'Do you really think my son and I would be sharing a meal side by side with you if he had an infectious disease?'
Or
'You've clearly never experienced the rigors of paperwork and scrutiny we've received from the U.S. immigration system, trying to bring an orphan into this country...'
But I take a step back and try to ascertain where their questions actually stem from, I realize most of them are asked out of fear that is rooted in ignorance. And that speaks to a level of isolation the American Church often cultivates.
In many ways, the American Church is effectively insulated from harsh realities of real pain and suffering not just outside our Country, but right outside our doors.
How many times have you heard the words "trafficking" and "human slavery", in your pew at church? Slavery isn't just a dark scurge of the past: yet I'm embarrassed to admit I was in my late 20s before ever hearing about this existing evil.
Human trafficking isn't just a 'round the world problem: it's a backyard problem. According to the Polaris Project, out of the estimated 9k illicit massage parlors in the U.S., 300 of them are in Illinois. Illegal businesses selling human beings are right here in central Illinois.
We're living in a time with the largest scale refugee crisis in human history. Millions of families - families; fathers and mothers who want exactly what every parent in the American Church wants for their children: safety and a future - are literally walking out of their homes and don't stop until their feet either give out or find a place of refuge.
These millions are migrating due to wars, religious persecution, slaughter by terrorist groups, crippled economies, famines, plagues & natural disasters. They migrate because some place, any place, has to be better then where they are. But will Christian brothers and sisters around the world open their doors?
Christian Alliance for Orphans estimates there are 153 million orphans in the world today. That's a staggering amount of babies, children, & youth thirsting for a forever family to love and share life with them.
Over 280 million people in the United States alone profess to be Christians: so why are so many still orphans? We all can name secular groups and celebrities who are reaching out in tangible ways to change these statistics: why isn't the Church of self - proclaimed Christ followers leading the charge?
I think I know why it took so long before I was really made aware of these realities: because many of us were raised in an insulated Christian society.
After all; "We don't go to church to hear about the bad things going on in the world."
Really? What's the pupose of attending a church? Most churches in America would probably agree we attend church to worship God & learn to become "more fully devoted followers of Jesus. "
But if we're following Jesus, then let's follow Jesus!
God bless those who give their time and resources to ministries in the Church that serve the poor, orphans, widows, & people who skirt society without acceptance from all the "nice people".
Church, we need to wake up. This isn't just ignorance: this isn't following in lockstep with Jesus.
It's so easy to believe in America that the purpose of the Christian life is to live in a clean safe neighborhood, have enough insurance and to live a current lifestyle. (Oh; and ensure godly men and women were elected to positions of power.)
None of those goals are wrong in and of themselves. But if that's our priority, then it rings as hollow as the posterity gospel to those hurting around us. Where do we spend most of our time, energy and resources? To preserve the "utopia" in which we've been born?
If we truly believe we've been put on earth "for such a time as this", then we'd use our power, wealth and authority as United States citizens to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves. (Proverbs 31:8-9, Isaiah 1:17)
Following Jesus should compel us to dig into the gospels and find out where Jesus went. What He did and who He ministered to. Where did He spend His time? (It wasn't always with the "nice people".)
Jesus stopped to speak with prostitutes.
Jesus avoided the hangouts of the pious religious figures of His day to routinely break bread with sinners.
Jesus embraced those no one dared go near and changed the lives of those living in every kind of bondage.
Jesus lived 33 years without clinging to the trappings and luxuries of this world and choose to walk the hard paths of the unpopular and unloved.
We're not the only ones who struggle to see like Jesus... His own disciples often failed to see the needs around them! Jesus had to continually remind them to welcome foreigners and strangers in their land, to care for the little ones, and help the needy.
Choosing to walk like Jesus is not always safe or tame. It requires effort to shatter the bubble that prevents us from drawing close to those who are really hurting; those whose lives are far messier than our own.
Too many American Christians seem more preoccupied with whether or not athletes stand up for the National anthem then for standing up for those who have no voice.
If the Church as a whole doesn't embrace the real reasons for which we've been born in this place and time in history, and truly loves as Christ loves; if we don't choose to face down evil in the power of the Holy Spirit and educate ourselves about what that looks like, then is it any wonder that Christians have exchanged their innocence for ignorance?
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