Just a Link in the Chain
After six straight 15-hour work days (including a basketball tournament from midnight to 2:30 am), we found ourselves on top of a boat in the Caribbean. The boat was a water taxi carrying us back from a day of relaxing on Caye Caulker. The speed of the boat produced a consistent breeze to keep us cool.
From the top of the boat we could see for miles in every direction. The “Caribbean” blue water was in perfect harmony with the expansive sky overhead. The setting sun cast dazzling colors across the sky and made everything appear in its best light.
Our team of seven Americans sat with our Belizean brothers Kenny and Orelle, as we took it all in. The introvert in me was grateful for the soft hum of the engine that kept us from feeling the need for conversation. I could feel my depleted soul filling up as my eyes drank it all in. Then, just as with everything in this life, the depravity of man tainted our glorious moment.
One the guys on our team was standing and enjoying the view when a young boy about 10 years old started talking with him. They both looked over to me at one point, so I did what any good pastor would do. I stuck my tongue out and made a funny face at them. The kid seemed to be pleasantly surprised and made his way to where I was sitting. He asked me if I had any water and I gave him a water bottle I had in my backpack. He drank it very quickly.
Just before he was done, he leaned over the rail, looked at a man seated on the lower deck, and spit a whole bunch of water on him. He quickly sat down and stared forward, hoping no one would catch him. I made another face at him and this one wasn’t very funny.
The man who he spit water on came up and gave him a talking to. As he did, I noticed the young boy’s eyes were intense and also bloodshot. He showed slight signs of remorse, even though he was denying he had done anything. I apologized to the man and told him the boy did it. That seemed to appease him and he went away. Just then, the kid sprang to his feet and ran to the other side of the boat and starting talking to some other people.
We were all discussing the erractic behavior of the kid when one of the guys on our team, who has a background in drug addiction, said, “That kid is high as a kite.” Here in this moment, with the backdrop of God’s glorious, soul-filling creation, the depravity of man showed up and pierced our joy.
Because of man’s propensity to misuse and abuse the gifts of God’s creation we have so many sad stories. The misuse and abuse of plants, the misuse and abuse of our bodies, the misuse and abuse of our intellects, the misuse and abuse of our sexuality, the misuse and abuse of our children, all lead to heartbreak and destruction.
We might think a little marijuana use here, a little porn use there, doesn’t really hurt anyone, but it does. Our misuse and abuse is a link in the chain that enslaves all of humanity. And the ones who suffer the most are our children.
My heart cries out the same things as the writer of Hebrews declared so long ago: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. But encourage one another daily so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
For just as powerful for destruction is our sin, our righteousness is powerful for building God’s glory here, as it is in heaven.
David