Where is the love in your actions?

Just because we can, should we? This question has been asked many times over the past 200 years in this country. Our founding fathers constructed the Constitution in such a manner that each person would have as much freedom as possible as long as that freedom did not affect others. Unfortunately, some — whether intentional or not — wish to abuse or try to inflict harm to others with this freedom. The following are some examples of this.

Several years ago I was having a conversation with a woman concerning the impending divorce from her husband of 10 years. In the course of the discussion she revealed that there were none of the common problems that had brought her to the decision to get the divorce. Her only decision that she was getting the divorce was because she “could.” She didn’t care how the divorce would affect her young child, husband or the family of the married man she was involved with.

In another instance I am familiar with, two or three families blocked a road that partially crossed their land, even though the road has been there for well over 30 years, long before any of them owned the property. The road remains where it was and is still used by them. This action created a situation for limited access to others who lived in the area. In one case, a handicapped man had to abandon his newly purchased home because of limited winter access. Since the road was blocked there have been two deaths and several homes destroyed by fire because emergency responders could not reach the area in a timely manner. This sounds like a situation that would happen in another state. Sadly enough, the road is located between Palmer and Wasilla. To my knowledge the road is still blocked and the case has had to go to court.

A far more well-known case of this is Westboro Baptist Church and its ongoing attack of homosexuality and use of demonstrations at military funerals and the funerals in Arizona of those murdered in the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. While I am not a Baptist minister, I do know several, none of whom support this type of action by this group.

I have waited patiently for nearly a year for some leader in the Baptist church to condemn this action by the Westboro Baptist Church, but none has condemned it publicly. I do not defend or support the Baptist church for not condemning the actions of one small group of nine people.

I will state emphatically that I do not approve of the actions of Westboro Baptist Church, and in fact condemn this senseless act of intentional emotional injury.

A lesser-known incident was the worldwide response to the earthquake in Haiti. Nations from around the world sent aid and money to help the country recover from the destruction. As I read through the list, one country was (at least to me) significantly missing. In comparison to the United States, they have far more money per capita than the United States. This country has so much money that virtually nobody works, yet they have sent no aid to date.

There are many more cases of this nature that exist. We see them nearly every day, whether it is a single person, small group or a nation. The focus of this article is not whether these actions are legal or not, nor is it the focus to criticize the actions or lack of action. The question I have when confronted with these issues is what would Jesus say?

In Mathew22:36-40 it says: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’”

In a few short words Jesus clarified how a Christian should act. In any situation I ask myself if Jesus would approve of what I said or did. Would Jesus approve of intently causing an emotional distress to children, creating a dangerous situation for neighbors, emotional pain at a funeral, or not helping another nation in need?

By definition, for people to call themselves Christians, they are to be Christ-like, to be compassionate for the needs of others and look at any situation through the eyes of other people. In short, would we want them to do whatever we are doing to us? In the above situations, I ask another question: where is the love in these actions? Where is the compassion? Are they truly acting as a Christian should? Although I wish there were, there is no test, no license, no physical proof of who is a Christian, only their words and actions. Each Christian should constantly search their heart, then ask would Jesus approve?

Mike Blodgett is chaplain at Lighthouse Chapel. E-mail him at lighthouse_chapelak@yahoo.com.

Opinions expressed on the Faith page are the author’s and are not necessarily those of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, its staff or its parent company, Wick Communications Co. To submit a column or other news for the Faith page, send e-mail to news@frontiersman.com, or call 352-2268.