Pretending 'failures' don't exist not a Christian answer

Dan Jones
May 3, 2008

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It looks like important company is soon to arrive. Let's sweep up the dirt, and pile the accumulated clutter behind a closed door. And let's be sure we remove the trash -- send it on down the road. Let's get it all out of sight in time for that important company.

These rules seem to make sense for cleaning house, right? But what if the "house" we're talking about is a city? What if the "important company" is a world leader, or a big convention? What if the "clutter" is a slum? What if the "trash" and "dirt" are the poor and homeless? Do the rules still make sense? Should we still hide the clutter from the visitor who might see it? And remove the "trash?" And sweep out the "dirt?"

According to various news reports, places all around the world seem to think so. In Seoul, South Korea, as part of their preparations for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, an estimated $15.5 billion was spent to "spruce up the place." Part of the money went toward the admirable project of building walls to hide the city's slums from television cameras along the marathon route. The news is full of stories of how the Chinese government is spending huge sums of money to clean up Beijing for this year's Olympic Games.

Prior to the 1997 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok, Thailand, approximately 10,000 homeless people were reportedly removed from the streets. A huge banner of the city's Grand Palace was used to hide otherwise visible slums by the river from the visiting dignitaries and television cameras.

In Montreal during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the mayor spent huge sums of money to make Montreal a world-stage destination, including for the 1976 Olympic Games. An artificial island for tourists was constructed, and a mega-stadium with a retractable roof was built. Alongside these accomplishments, the town erected palisade barriers along streets to hide slums from the visiting tourists. The mayor at the time, Jean Drapeau, reportedly even dreamt of jailing the homeless to clean up the city.

Denver wants to clean out the homeless during the Democratic National Convention. The city plans to open additional shelters, extend operation hours of others to provide 24-hour service, and have an army of outreach workers prowling the streets to try to persuade the homeless to get inside (out of sight). Denver doesn't do this ordinarily yet officially denies that these efforts involve trying to hide some clutter behind a door.

What if we want God to visit? Do we think God can't see under the bed or in the closet?

Jesus said, "For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open." Mark 4:22 (NIV). Later, Paul wrote: "To keep me from becoming conceited ... there was given me a thorn in my flesh. ... Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Cor 12:7-9 (NIV).

Let us pray that cities and people all over the world learn this lesson. It is better to admit and to face our failings and our weaknesses, and to try to work through them with Christ's help. Let us not pretend our weaknesses don't exist, failing to take care of that which we hide on the other side of the wall, for the vanity of a clean image. Let us instead work toward living such that we don't have anything to hide.



Dan Jones worships at the Greeley Vineyard-Church in the City. He grew up in the Boulder/Longmont area, and now lives in Greeley with his wife.