bling sting

As we get more and more submersed in the culture of Miami, we are finding a real tension between the classes. The super poor and the super rich are separated only by a couple of blocks. The recent economic down turn has shrank the middle class at an increasing rate. For a town known for it's glitz, Miami seems extremely quiet and reserved.

We spoke to a lady who told us she was a retired real estate agent. She said it's a totally different town then it was just five years ago. People don't go out and get together with their friends like they used to. They don't talk to their neighbors and nobody cares about anyone else. They are afraid to have a good time and seem to hide and sulk in thier current conditions.

In talking with other locals, they all seem very depressed, almost ashamed. We are finding that people hold great stock in their status. As long as they have a nice car and live in the right house and send their kids to the right school, then they are "happy". Otherwise, they isolate themselves from the rest of the community. Not wanting to be compared or judged by their friends and neighbors because they are going through hard times.

A lady that worked at Carnival Cruise Lines for the past 26 years told Wendy yesterday that 2000 employees work in the corporate office. One of those employees was a single mom. She ended up going through a nasty divorce. Falling into hard times, she ended up being foreclosed and evicted from her house. She was not able to rent anywhere because of the forclosure and eviction. She lived on the street with her kids for a week or so and then was able to get into a womans shelter. After sixty days, her alotted time was up and she had to leave the shelter. Still unable to rent a place she ended up back on the street. The whole time all this was happening, she was working full time at Carnival and nobody new her situation.

High class status is the desired lifestyle here, problem is it's a lie. You can dress up your outside but it doesn't change your inside. When the status is stripped away, all that remains is everything you have been trying to hide. Jesus said to clean the inside first, then the outside will be clean (Matt 23:26).

As we get busy reaching out to the poor and starting a church for people who don't necessarily like church, we want to create a culture of love and a community of grace. One where people can be open, honest and authentic without the fear of being judged and condemned. Jesus loves us where we are and will go great lengths to find us. Truth is, there is nothing we can do to make him love us more than he does right now and there is nothing we can do to make him love us less than he does right now. He gave everything so we can be clean on the inside and when that happens, the outside will be clean.