Saving Souls

Our hearts go out and prayers go up for the families grieving in Broward County.  The Broward County Sheriff’s Department is a glaring example of the crumbling character of a once great nation. True Courage like humility is rarely seen until it is under fire. Courage is unique not common. If it were not, everyone would be walking around with Medals of Honor.  The default position in the face of danger is to duck. A uniform (or a badge) does not a soldier make. Drill Sergeants have a daunting task of trying to instill the closest thing to courage that they can in raw recruits.  Often the best they can do is settle for a commitment to an ideal greater than themselves, and to the military unit, and to the country which must defend that ideal. One of the twelve points of the Boy Scout law, which begins with “trustworthy,” is “brave.” Our National Anthem ends with the words, “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.” You can’t have one for long without the other.  Bravery is not, not being afraid. It is pressing on in spite of fear. That’s what was missing in Broward County. The Apostle Paul described courage in the Book of Acts when he said, “None of these things move me (that’s Character), neither count I my life dear unto myself (that’s Courage.)” Somehow, in a moment of great danger, Character is revealed in Courage, and someone (forgetting for the moment himself) rushes into the burning building, or steps between Goliath and a cowering army like a shepherd boy named David, or refuses to offer incense to Caesar. Somehow for a moment, the courageous,  loves his neighbor as himself, and even more. Suddenly someone else becomes more important than them.
A Navy Seal recently reacted to the idea of America having a Parade for itself, by saying, “Third World countries parade. We prepare and we fight.” I am no anti-gun advocate. Neither am I a gun advocate (don’t own one). That no one in the Broward County Sheriff’s Department (or the five deputies that were present) had the courage to run to the defense of Helpless High School students being slaughtered by Evil should cause us to take a close look at a godless country that loves self more than God and good, and will not risk sacrificing itself to deliver the helpless from evil.   We can’t blame what has happened to America on the heroic failure of Barney Fife, the Mayberry Sheriff’s Office or Broward County Police Forces. The church also seems to have lost it’s courage, character and commitment as well, along with it’s willingness to suffer persecution for standing with Christ in this Christ-less world, for speaking out and speaking up. Holding parades for itself every Sunday, is not exactly the church’s mission. How many have we tried to rescue or save this week? Saving the Second Amendment may be important, but not more important than saving a single soul. We may not be a Billy Graham, but we do not have to hide behind our patrol cars waiting for a heavily armed and armored SWAT team to arrive, when we can speak a word or hand out a tract to a teacher or a troubled teen telling of One who laid down His life for them.  -id