Tonight, I had a new experience.
I drove past a gun battle.
This is not the De Profundis blog. I’m not making this up.
Crystal and I were driving to the Cub Foods at Nebraska and Knoxville. My normal route there from our new home is to go down Columbia Terrace to North Street, and then take North up to Nebraska.
So, Crystal and I were driving, discussing the latest graffiti that appeared in our alley, including the gun picture and the “Dead Zone” scrawl. Suddenly, I heard gunshots. I distinctly remember thinking, “Those aren’t fireworks”. I couldn’t see what was going on, and I wasn’t sure where the shots were coming from. So I hit the gas and got out of there as fast as I could.
Crystal saw what happened, though. She says that, right as we were passing, a man stood in the doorway of his house and fired four times at another man, who was on the lawn in front of the house. The second man returned fire before ducking around the corner of the house. If the first man had fired again, he could have hit us. As it was, she saw the muzzle flash from his gun as he fired.
We’re okay. Let me quickly assure you of that, and we are thankful to God for His protection for us. Still, it is a deeply disturbing and sobering experience that is sitting on both of us.
You see, this shoot-out happened only a couple of blocks away from our house. I could walk to the corner of my street (which is only three doors down) and see where it happened. Now, that is in a different neighborhood (Flora-Ellis/Orchard District/whatever they’re calling it), which is markedly worse than ours. Still, that is what we are facing here.
Now, I know that’s part of what we came to fight. But how do we fight it? What does that look like? Certainly, we need to be preaching the Gospel to everyone, and that includes gang members. And how do I fulfill my obligation to guard my family as we pursue this calling?
Hard questions, and the answers are very important.
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First: Thank goodness you are OK.
Second: Be sure to contectg the police and be willing to tell then what you saw. You may not think you saw much, but just being able to say you saw someone in the area might be enough.
Third: Thank goodness you two are ok. Hang in there.
We called the police within a few minutes. I don’t know if we can really contribute much to the police, although I’ll need to talk to Crystal. She may have seen something that would be helpful.
And we are doing fine. Thank you for your well-wishes.
That mimicks something i witnessed in my old neighborhood, complete with questions of ‘how to fight this’. My story went like this: i was walking up to my house, and saw a man standing directly in front of me (about 15 yards in front of me) firing a gun at a car that was speeding off. Shortly after that, he turned around and started walking in my direction (putting the gunman between me and my house). Panic struck me, and i immediately turned around and started walking the other way… calmly. I didn’t want him to think i saw anything. I walked around the entire block before going back to my house, only to realize ‘i’ve seen that guy before’. It was my neighbor… a guy who lived a couple doors down from me. Even more bizarre is that i’ve seen him in church before… and since. In retrospect, maybe i should have called the police, but i didn’t.
I did eventually get the story that the guys in the car had stolen that car the night before, and were driving it past his house again, showing off that they were tough gangsters. Anger got the best of him, and he ran out of the house firing at them. Later he realized that he shouldn’t have lost his cool, and (as my understanding goes) he repented, and continued trying to be a good father and neighbor.
How does God see that? How do we witness to people who are so culturally divided from us that they will fire shots out their front door? I think it’s easy to call the police on someone like that and say “he may learn a valuable lesson from being thrown in jail.”, but i have a VERY hard time pre-emptively walking up to his front door, inviting them to dinner and welcoming them into my home, showing them the love that Christ would show them. I believe if Christ were walking around in the flesh today, these are the people he would find more joy hanging out with… not the church people. But HOW would Christ hang out with them?
That must have been scary. I know I was in total shock for a few minutes. And I understand what you’re saying about how Jesus would hang out with them. Back at our old house there was a family that lived behind us. They really freaked me out. And they kept stealing out of our yard. Do you invite them in? What if you know befriending these people may cause your home to be robbed or worse yet, that they might physically harm you or your kids? Those are hard questions.
Not to be insensitive, or to twist your arms to do anything in particular, but I’ll remind you of something that continues to make me very unpopular: They’re not YOUR kids, it’s not YOUR house. Everything you ‘have’ belongs to God. William, miscarriages, and deaths of close family members all show us the frailty of life, and that God is in control, despite our noblest plans.
We cannot protect against what God ordains, and nothing can hurt us if God is protecting us.
I agree with you, Jon.
I’m actually going to pause for a second, because I don’t want to move so quickly to my next point that it seems like I’m blowing you off. Everything that you have said is completely true; indeed, it is foundational to my next point.
Which is this: I have various duties given me by God. One of these is my responsibility to guard my family. Another is to preach and display the Gospel in whatever place God has placed me. And, while it’s true that “[w]e cannot protect against what God ordains, and nothing can hurt us if God is protecting us”, it is also true that His means to accomplish these ends includes the means of our efforts. (Boy, doesn’t this seem like a mirror of another discussion on a different board?)
So, within the confidence that comes from God, how should I proceed wisely in this neighborhood?
I’ll mention one thing that Crystal and I have been considering, more in light of the recent graffiti incidents. Matthew 5:39 says, “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Graffiti is a hassle, but it is not a threat to my family. What if we just let people graffiti our back fence (when we have one)? Indeed, what if we actually post a sign giving permission to graffiti the fence? I wonder if this “turning the cheek” would have a positive impact.
At the same time, in Nehemiah 4:14, it says, “And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.’” I fully intend to insure that I have the physical wherewithal to defend the family for whom I’m responsible.
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