Danger Zone

I believe that one of the most dangerous places that a person can be is a High School parking lot at the beginning of lunchtime.  Everyone is trying to get off campus as quickly as possible because the school only gives them enough time to get somewhere, order their lunch, eat their lunch, and get back if they break every possible traffic law en route.  Today I showed up at the school just after the lunch bell rang and almost got hit by two cars and then had two guys on motorcycles pull out in front of me.  It was like they could sense my fear and so rather than wait they jumped on it.

I was there because I wanted to see my students.  We have a bunch of High Schoolers who don’t leave for lunch, and once a week I try to go by and visit them while they are on their lunch break.  I just kind of hang out and give high fives.  And so even though I take my life in my own hands just to drive onto the campus, I do it.

Now, I’m not trying to make myself sound like a hero here, but as I was driving away from the school today I started thinking that if we call ourselves believers, our love should take us into dangerous territory.  We should love people who in and of themselves are not very loveable even if that opens us up to the possibility of getting hurt.  We should love in such a way that it meets genuine needs, even if it puts us on the wrong side of town (or the globe).  We should really love people even if they believe differently from us, or look different from us, or vote differently from us.  Because real, genuine, Christlike love is dangerous.  I mean, Jesus paid with His life.