Another Look at Paris

Last week, I spoke about Paris, and I mentioned that in a tragedy like this, we as Christians become burdened for a little while and then a few days later, go on with their lives. Maybe we make a temporary Facebook profile picture, maybe we put up flags, but eventually the emotion of the moment dies down, and we ignore the still real ramifications of what's going on in the world.

And I must admit that I am as guilty about this as anyone else. I have had times where my burden for the situation in Paris, which was first so strong because of the number of people affected, and the superb opportunity for the church to shine a spotlight in this tragedy, has started to slowly dwindle. I pray about it every other day, but not as a consistent daily occurrence.

And it's only been a week since the events happened! How is this so? How is that the emotions that are felt throughout the world are so transient that we even now start to feel unaffected by the tragedy and more concerned with the implications of a text message we sent?

A far cry are we from the works of Nehemiah who kept his burden for 4-5 months. A far cry are we from the old men of the faith who would pray constantly and long-term for those affected by poverty.

Admittedly, we will not all be burdened like Nehemiah about every situation. That would be insane and a scary world. But I think we should be able to still desire prayer for these people.

And then of course, there are the people critiquing the fact that we are up in arms about this and not about the killings that happen in Africa. Ok, let's pray about those too. Further, I don't think it's ok for them to condemn anyone for the burdens that we have in society.

At any rate, I feel strongly about Paris, and wish that I could specifically do something to help. Since I'm not in that position, I'm praying the Lord would burden and guide those that are. And you can probably expect to hear about Paris for several Mondays to come. If you would, at least take that time, to pray about the situation.