Black and White???

For as long as I can remember I've always been a black and white kind of guy.  It's either right or wrong, no in between.  But ever since I got started in urban ministry I've been living in the grey zone.  That's not to say that I've compromised my principles, but rather that issues are so much more complex than what I was used to.

How do you deal with...
...a child who curses you up and down and tells you to go to hell...only to realize he's releasing his built up anger toward his absent father
...a girl who gets pregnant when all she was really looking for was love.
...a girl who steals because she is hungry.
...siblings who show no respect to authority because their is no discipline at home
...sending kids home from camp for misbehaving when all you're doing is sending them back to very place they learned to misbehave

If I am to effectively minister to urban kids I can't be black and white because the right answer is not always clear.  If a kid misbehaved at a church camp I'd send him home because he'd be going back to loving parents and a supportive church.  If a kid misbehaves at our camps...sending him home teaches him nothing, but keeping him doesn't send the right message to the other campers either.  It's a tough ministry and one where you have to be dependent on the Holy Spirit, ALL the time.  It's definitely stretched me a lot more than I expected.

This past summer we had a few of our older kids get themselves in trouble, enough so the initial reaction would have been to send them home.  But after some discussion and prayer we ended up letting them stay at camp.  They would serve on the service team (take out trash, clean bathrooms, etc.) and do Bible studies with myself or another leader.  For their time with me we went through Romans 7-9.  I didn't know what to expect but it ended up being one of my highlights this past summer.  Most of them took it seriously and thought really deeply about God's        
                                                      Word, sin and how it impacted their lives.

I really believe the Lord showed us what to do in that time to reach them.  If the Lord ever brings me to mind, would you just pray that God would continue to give me more wisdom in this ministry?


I love what St. Athanasius said...

"The justice of God demanded that man be punished for His sins.  The mercy of God demanded that man be forgiven.  In God's wisdom He sent His Son Jesus do die on the cross for our sins so that we might be shown both justice and mercy."  (or something like that)