What's Currently Occupying My Mind (part 1)

When people find out that I live in East Price Hill, one of their chief concerns is the supposed inherent danger of simply stepping foot in such a neighborhood. “You live there? Aren't you afraid?” As if my family and I have to dodge bullets and avoid burglars and run from rapists when we walk home from the grocery store. (This just in - we don’t.)

My typical stance in conversations such as this is as follows: 90+% of crime is drug-related, I'm not involved in such things, and therefore I don't think there's much to be afraid of.

To be honest, I’m not totally comfortable with that.

What’s hidden beneath the I’m not a criminal, so I’m not worried mindset is that there isn’t much hope involved. It essentially says "go ahead, let all the bad guys kill other bad guys… what’s the point in putting them in jail or giving them a chance for rehabilitation… just let ‘em kill each other off".

I don’t think I’m valuing the lives of criminals enough.

I believe in a God who redeems. I believe in a God who makes all things new. I believe in a God who took a murderer and transformed him into a man who was possibly the most influential man for the faith in the history of the world.

More personally, I believe in a God who has changed me. My life may look very different from career criminals, but I dare anyone to try to convince me that we’re really all that different. A couple bad decisions here and there. A couple times getting caught here and there. We’re not that different.

I know I’m not going to save the world. I know there are millions and millions of people in this world that will never bow down to Jesus in this life. But I also know that my role is not to be the judge, jury, or executioner.

After all, we’re not that different. Our problems manifest themselves in different ways, but we’re not that different. Our problems may look very different, but we're not that different. You might be able to see the grit and grime in a career criminals eyes and on his hands, but the murder in my heart is concealed from plain view.

We're not that different.

I have more to say. I hesitate to say that I’m building a case with all of this, but there is more to come.