Fix My Kid

One of the more common calls for service for any police officer involves parents who drag their child to the lobby of a police department and demand a law enforcement professional fix an out of control son or daughter. These parents are under the illusion that their failure to parent is somehow going to be changed miraculously by a police officer sitting down with little Johnny or Sally and “scare” them into good behavior. The truth is that a police officer can’t undo years of spoiling, failing to set boundaries or holding a child accountable in 30 minutes or less. You are not going to find success at a police station for winning the war for a child’s mind, body or spirit any more than you will find it dragging a child to a church event. The following is a story to serve as a reminder that forcing a child (or anyone for that matter) to church is not going to teach them how be a better person.

My wife and I recently volunteered for the Compassion Experience hosted by our church. The Compassion Experience is an outreach by Compassion International. (https://www.compassion.com/) This ministry works to provide food, elementary education, trade schools training and sharing the love of Jesus Christ in twenty-six impoverished countries across the globe. The Compassion Experience brings a semi-truck and trailer to local communities to provide a three dimensional experience for people to see what it is like for a child struggling to eat one meal a day, live in dirty conditions with little hope for the future. There are two experiences to choose from that tell a story of a boy and a girl who started in poverty and through the support of Compassion, were able to turn their lives around. It costs less than $40 per month to help one child in need.

We were responsible to usher people into the Experience, providing them with head phones and an audio presentation for a ten minute walk through tour. During our shift, a mother and young son, who was about 10, came into the welcome area. The mother told me that she brought her son because he was spoiled and not appreciative of how good his life was. We got them set up for their tour and sent them into the exhibit. Within seconds, the boy came running out screaming at his mother he was not going to go through. His behavior bordered on out of control and he ran out of the welcome tent and out to the family car where he took refuge in the driver’s seat. The mom apologized, gave us the audio equipment and left explaining that her son had sensory overload problems. We had compassion on the boy, thinking that he was fearful of the dark room.

Ten minutes later the mother and son returned. We refitted them with the headphones and watched as they entered the exhibit. Once finished, they had the opportunity to sponsor a child by selecting a package that had photographs and biographies. From where I sat, I could hear the son talking with a Compassion representative. I was hopeful that he might learn something from his experience. Sadly, he paid no attention to the faces of children in the photographs, but was trying to convince the host that Compassion should be making an exhibit about him. He was, after all an expert video game player and knew for certain that his story would be just as interesting as the two children he learned about from Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic. He had sensory overload…an overload of materialism. I was sad for this boy who was unable to see what he had in his life. I was sad for the mother who somehow believed that a ten minute walk through was going to make her son see something that she had failed to teach him. Our compassion turned to frustration as we began to understand that it was not fear, but self-absorption and materialism.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.”

What is it that God is trying to show you about the blessings in your life that you refuse to see because what you have is not quite what you think you deserve? Are you the ten year old looking for validation or the parent looking for the quick fix? What is it that you want God to “fix” when in reality, He has already done that and wants you to deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow him?