Guest: Where Are They?

Football season is wrapping up. I don’t really like football, but Jeremiah likes it, so we listen to it in the car, and sometimes watch a game on TV. Those guys are unbelievable. If I were forced to wear tights and run a ball in 20 degree weather while being chased by a group of huge sweaty men I would crumple up into the fetal position and cry myself to sleep. But they are tough,brave, enthusiastic and domineering. They don’t cry when they get creamed by a 400lb linebacker. They suck it up. Because they’re men.

We’ve been watching Band of Brothers. I really like that series. It’s not just entertainment for entertainment’s sake, it’s true and real and emotional and raw. The interviews with those men make me want to cry, because they were passionate about the cause they were risking their lives for. They didn’t complain, they carried on for the cause. They gave everything they had to give, and some gave their lives. They knew the risks and trudged on, because they knew the reward was greater than the risks. They didn’t make excuses. Because they were men. In America we love to celebrate manly men- men that will stand up and fight-for freedom, for the ball, for justice, for peace.

But something I’ve come to notice as these months of researching and reading and waiting pass:
In the defense of orphans, where are the men?
Historically and Biblically, it is the women who are nurturers, the care-givers. Men are protectors and providers. They hunt, we gather. They fight, we stand behind them. They go out, we keep the home fires burning. But in the war for orphans, the women seem to lead the armies. Why is that? Is it not a worthy cause?
Where are the fighting men who will do whatever it takes to rescue abandoned and abused children?
The brave men who will stand up to a society that says 2 kids is enough, that Christianity is a white religion made to comfort old ladies, and that the orphan crisis is not our problem ?
The broken-hearted men who will cry out to Christ on behalf of dying children?
The men who will ask God to show them the way, to lead them through unfamiliar territories and provide for their families against all earthly odds if they choose to obey Him?
The pastors who will preach James 1:27 and Luke 10:27?

Where are they?

I’ve seen wonderful, Godly men raise their hands in worship of our Savior during church, men who lead their families in love and reverence of God, then say they could never afford to adopt.
I’m not judging them, because I used to feel the same way, but the God we worship is the same One who CREATED THE UNIVERSE! He made everything from nothing!!

He parted the sea, and turned water into wine, and raised the dead!!

When someone says that to me, I want to jump up and down and scream:

He can provide! He can provide! He WILL provide!

If we will just.let.Him.
If we will just.obey.
If we will give.it.over.

Fear of the financial costs of adoption is the #1 reason Christian families don’t adopt.
Satan’s lies are working.
When we say that we can’t afford adoption, what we are really saying is that we believe God is insufficient, powerless, and uncaring. And He is none of those things!

“Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.” Ps. 54:4

“But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me.” Ps. 55:17-18

“So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” Heb 13:6

“There should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord you God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you…” Dt 15:4

“Perfect love drives out fear…” 1 Jn 4:18

Our lives are not our own.
We Christians like to say that.
It’s not about me.

What if Jesus would have made the same {lame} excuses we do?
What if He had not chosen to adopt us as sons and heirs?
What if He had sat back and decided we weren’t worth the trouble?
What if He had said:
“Oh, gosh, I just don’t know. I mean, we don’t really have the room for all of them here, and we could never afford it. What would it do to our savings? And what would our retirement look like? And they look nothing like us-what would everyone think? We may not get invited to parties anymore. We might have to move to make room, and that’s not really in our schedule right now. It’s just too much work, I mean, they don’t even speak the same language, and they are so dirty! They’ve done some pretty bad things, and that’s a lot of baggage to deal with. I’m just not ready for that kind of commitment.Some of them are sick- some even have HIV and AIDS and man, that’s just too sad to deal with, so we should just leave it to someone else, because surely someone else will come along and save them all. It’s not really our problem, I mean, they’ve done it to themselves. ”

Think about this:
If you are a believer, you have been trans-racially adopted!
Where are the Godly men who will lead the armies and fight for the souls of 147 million lost children who will never know the Savior they love and claim to live for if they don’t show Him to them?

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them.” Acts 4:32-34

For a man’s perspective, read this

Bricker Blog