Symptoms of a larger disease

A tiny church in a small midwestern city has gotten into trouble with authorities. Their crime was opening the church to as many as 50 people a night to use as an emergency shelter during a brutal winter. The church is not zoned to serve as a shelter and lacks fire safety equipment.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- Leaders at a Rockford church say they have been told by the city that they can no longer act as a warming center and temporary homeless shelter because of zoning issues and apparent safety hazards. 

Apostolic Pentecostals of Rockford church tells 23 New they were told Wednesday by the city that their facility doesn't have adequate fire safety equipment and also isn't zoned to serve the community as a warming center or shelter.

Here is a congregation that takes seriously Christ's teaching to care for those in need. They opened their doors to provide warmth, food, and shelter to the local homeless population. And if they continue to do it, they will be taken to court and likely have to pay hefty fines.

It is fascinating how many of the published comments about this story defended the city. The law is the law. True. This just so happens to be an instance where following the New Testament violates the laws of the larger society. In all likelihood, this church will reluctantly comply with city laws and close its doors to people in desperate need.

We live in a society that is growing hard in heart, especially towards the homeless. Across our nation, municipality after municipality have passed ordinances making it a crime to live on the streets. Even in places without the more draconian laws, area residents and businesses frequently complain when emergency feeding programs draw large crowds of the destitute. Zoning violations typically come to city attention when the neighbors complain. I am willing to bet the neighbors of this little church were unhappy about all those homeless people wandering the streets. The unwashed poor need to be keep from the eyes, ears, and noses of the beautiful people.

Perhaps we should be asking why there were so many people were living on the streets with no place else to go but this little church. The powers that be do not seem to be interested in pursuing long-term solutions to the needs of the homeless. Instead of cheering the generosity of the congregation, the locals decided punishment was in order. Problem solved. Case closed.

Here is what passes for compassion in this sordid little story. The fire marshall, interviewed for the video aired by the local television station, said that he waited until the worst of the winter was over to issue the citation. It was near zero the morning that citation arrived.