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The Angry Savior
Yes, Jesus taught peace and love. But Scripture reveals a Messiah who was not above losing His cool
by Mark Galli
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Patricia Watkins is a minister for Ambassadors for Christ World Outreach Ministries, a Pentecostal church on the South Side of Chicago. She was tired of the violence and drug dealing in the church's neighborhood, so she organized community meetings on the corner of 78th Street and Hermitage Avenue. The church wanted to reclaim the corner by their presence and their prayers.
People from the church pitched a tent, set up chairs, and started talking about the problems and needs of the block. Some nights thirty people showed up, other nights, many more. Ministers from nearby churches led worship services. Adults tutored children in reading and math. Police and prosecutors came out to support the residents, especially when they marched through the streets shouting, "Whose streets? Our streets!"
One evening as a tent meeting was breaking up, a drug boss ordered his crew back to the streets. It was safe. The cops and most of the preachers were gone. But Watkins had not left, and she didn't like what she was seeing. She confronted the boss.
"Son, do you know why we're out here?" she asked. He shrugged. "We're out here trying to save your life," she continued. "How old are you?"
We struggle with moments such as Jesus' outburst at the temple because He so willingly employs shame and fear to motivate people.
He said he was 17. She replied, "You've got to help us help you."
That's when Watkins says she noticed a car slowly approaching. The driver was looking around nervously. The teenager Watkins had been talking to walked over to the driver. When Watkins realized a drug deal was going on, she grabbed a bullhorn.
"No drugs!" she boomed. "No drugs! No drugs!"
The car sped off, and the young dealer ran—pursued by Watkins, two other pastors, and several women. They chased him for blocks as neighbors on their porches laughed and applauded.
"All we could see was the bottom of his shoes," Watkins later said.
The Chicago Tribune reporter who wrote about this incident concluded the story by saying, "They did not want to arrest him. They wanted to shame him. They wanted to change him. 'He was our son,' Watkins says."
A religion without fear is more interested in making people feel good than in helping them.
The phrase that caught my attention was this: "They wanted to shame him." It not only called to mind the many warnings I've heard as a parent, pastor, and teacher against shaming people, it also reminded me of Jesus' behavior.
The Mad Messiah
Jesus would not have been able to get a teaching credential anywhere in the country. He regularly used methods that we are trying ever so hard to eliminate today.
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