MONDAY NIGHT CLUB

WINSDAY WISDOM Session 207

Staring down the face of a gangster’s gun.

These were the times that tried our souls. Join in this story and you will feel my heartbeat from fear to anger to hope and tears of joy. This what love first and love most looks like in real life.

The wild car chase after the grand theft of a pickup was told in the initial episode of C.O.P.S. (CLERGY on PATROL in last Winsday Wisdom, Rainy-Day Car Chase). This is the follow-up to that event.

Something needed to be done to change the tension in the neighborhood as well as protect the church members and their cars.

Our church staff decided to host a large event as an invitation to the neighborhood youth. We canvassed the nearby schools with flyers advertising free pizza and entertainment. Almost four hundred youth showed up for the food. Most were African American. We used the opportunity to invite everyone to visit our basketball gym and game room the next Monday night between 6 to 9 PM. Free popcorn would also be available.

Two hundred came for the next three weeks enjoying the fun and games. They also sat through a 10-to-15-minute Bible devotional in the middle of the evening. We thought we had hit the motherlode as we began to develop interaction with the middle and high school youth.

Surprisingly, the fourth Monday night event was almost empty of youth. About eight kids showed up. The same thing happened the next week, only fewer attended.

As we followed up with some of our new acquaintances, several parents informed us that a few African American church pastors counseled their parishioners to prohibit their youth from attending events at our church. They were concerned for the welfare of the children. Our appeals for reconsideration were graciously refused.

However, new visitors showed up the subsequent Monday evening. We offered a place to play basketball in an air-conditioned building…plus free popcorn. This was the only place in the city for a high-humidity hot summer pick-up basketball game in an air-conditioned environment.

The word quickly spread to their friends…or more accurately, their fellow gang members. Yes, the new participants identified themselves with gangs. These were drug dealers and their distributers. Most of them had quit or been expelled from school. The news of the gang members weekly presence at our gym quickly spread to the local pastors and parents. No one wanted to send their kids into our danger zone. Who could blame them?

By the end of the second month, the only “youth” taking advantage of our open-door invitation were members of the city’s two rival gangs. We welcomed them into our gym. We initially had three rules. No cursing. No sagging (wearing your jeans below your hips). No leaving before the Bible devotional.

We soon had to include another prohibition. No Guns! That’s right. Guns became a problem. The rival gangs shared the basketball court. There were no referees. The violations were self-governed. Arguments delayed the game and eventually cost them court time. We thought we could handle the animosity. Hot-headed basketball players are not limited to gang members, so I had experience in this arena.

Two Monday nights ended with gun battles in the grocery store parking lot across the street. One night an argument broke out inside our gym. A scuffle ensued. As the combatants and the growing crowd moved out the door, a full-fledged fight broke out. Two staff members pushed their way into the middle of the fisticuffs and wrestled to separate the opponents. Tempers flared and our staff yelled orders to stop.

As Derek and Big John held two enraged teenagers apart, another gang member pulled a handgun and pointed it right at Robin, Teresa, and our staff guys. He threatened to shoot. As the crowd slowly backed up, someone shouted that the cops were coming. The police car roared into the middle of the crowd. The gun-toting kid was arrested and placed in the back of the cop car. The policeman told us the teenager would be taken downtown, arrested, and then be home before any of us that night.

The biggest casualty that night was Big John’s new white sneakers. They were a dirty mess! I do not believe Big John has ever gotten over that tragedy.

How much does it take to show someone you love them? We did not give up or ban the gang members. We did invoke a “No Gun” rule. We bought a metal detector for the entrance and hired an off-duty officer to serve as a plain-clothes security guard.

Would the gang members give up their guns or give up their air-conditioned basketball court? They adjusted. They began to hide their guns in the bushes on the way into our gym. They gathered their weapons and sometimes used them on their way back home later that night.

We also made an agreement with the perceived gang leaders. Free use of the gym in exchange for guaranteed protection for our church members and their vehicles. They agreed. We had no more car thefts or threatened families.

What we did have was a continued gang problem that was only a microcosm of the City’s larger issues. During one of the early devotionals about the importance of godly character, I mentioned Jesus’ crucifixion. I witnessed empty stares from the small crowd sitting in the bleachers. It was not the look of disinterest. It was the darkened eyes of young people who had no clue what I was talking about.

I directly asked them if anyone ever heard that Jesus was hung on a cross with nails piercing his hands and feet, a crown of thorns shoved into his head, and a spear thrust into his side. Raise your hand if you ever heard that true story. Only two hands went up.

Two! Two youth among thirty living in the city with the most churches per city capita in all of America. They had never heard the account of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection or His purpose. None of them had ever heard that God loved them with so great a love that He gave His only Son to die in their place so they would not eternally perish but have everlasting love and life.

God help us! God help these young people!

Where is the mission field? Where ungodly people have not heard of the life and love of Jesus. That could be in a distant land. It could also be in one’s own neighborhood.

I told our staff we must go back to the very basics of God’s Word. Only God’s Word gives the power to transform a life. We would teach the #1 Textbook, starting at the beginning where God created the heavens and the earth. Slowly, but surely, we faithfully related the beautiful revelation of God’s life and love to us.

People and books and programs can tell and teach a person how to change things in his/her life.

ONLY GOD’S WORD GIVES THAT PERSON THE POWER TO CHANGE.

That is the same truth for you and your loved ones. Only God’s Word gives the power to change a life.

This next significant moment occurred three weeks following the gun incident.

We knew we had a problem when there were two gangs. Both wanted our gym as their independent turf. I identified Tyrone as a key figure in this struggle. The seventeen-year-old Tyrone was a handsome young man with an athletic build. He looked like a college linebacker. Six feet two inches in height and 180 muscular pounds in weight. He had played football in high school before he was expelled because of gang activity.

Everyone in the gym looked up to Tyrone. He was friendly with me and the staff. He appeared to be interested in the Bible study time.

I had a plan. Another staff member and I invited Tyrone to a presession dinner. I talked to Tyrone about his dreams. I offered to help him get back into school with a spot on the high school football team. That would give him an opportunity to get a free college education. I encouraged him to use his leadership ability to help us control the violent outbursts during the basketball contests.

Tyrone listened respectfully. He promised to help.

An argument broke out early that night before the devotional break time. Things became very heated. Someone shouted several profanities and ordered their comrades to leave immediately. All of a sudden, I saw Tyrone and thirteen other guys headed for the door.

I interrupted their departure with a loud appeal. “Stop! Everyone. Stop! If you walk out now before the Bible time, you will be banned from coming back.”

My heart sank as my blood pressure increased. This was a watershed moment. I did not want to lose these guys. But I could not back down on the rules requiring the participants to stay through the teaching period.

I prayed as I shouted, “Tyrone! Stop these guys. If y’all walk out that door right now, there is no coming back. I beg you, Tyrone, get these guys back into the gym!”

I will never forget what happened next. The crowd of fourteen angry young men stopped in their tracks. A loud, high-pitched squeal filled the room.

“Tyrone is not the leader of this gang. I am.”

I stared in shock at Marcus, five foot two and pushing 120 pounds, if soaking wet. He repeated his announcement, only this time his voice was at an even higher pitch.

I felt like Simon Peter when he was privileged to witness Jesus in all His glory at the Mount of Transfiguration. “He did not know what to say, because he was terrified” (#1 Textbook). But, amazingly, like so many of us in that same situation, that did not stop him from saying something. It did not stop me either.

I did not know how to respond to this gang leader revelation. But I had to say something.

I blurted out, “Well, whoever is the leader of this gang, he better get their bodies back inside that gym door now!”

Marcus stared at me and then at his buddies waiting for his instructions. With the motion of his little hand, he signaled their about face as he shouted in that shrill voice, “Everyone back inside. I said so.”

I could identify with Simon Peter’s follow-up remark to his admission that he did not know what to say. “Well, Lord, I guess it was good for us to be here.”

I found out that Marcus was the unchallenged gang leader and Tyrone was their designated shooter. Tyrone was the hitman who took orders from Marcus. Wow! I really missed that one.

That night I gave the talk of my life. Derek Cox calls it the Moses’ coming down from the mountain talk. “Who is on the Lord’s side?”

Moses threw down the Ten Commandments in front of the ungodly rebels and drew a line in the sand. Then Moses asked, “Who is on the Lord’s side? You have to choose right now” (#1 Textbook).

I was as hot with anger as I was Spirit-filled. (I am not sure how that works and not sure it is even a good combination.)

I drew a line in the sand that night. I declared there would be only two gangs recognized in our gym. God’s gang and the devils’ gang. Any other gangs better choose sides because I was going to chase out the devils’ gang and lock the doors on them. This was it.

Who is on the Lord’s side?

From now on, any arguments on the court would send both teams to the bleachers to sit out two games. It no longer mattered who was right and who was wrong about the correct call. Any disrespect would be treated with immediate ejection. Any talk-back would receive a two-week suspension.

At some point, I segued into my version of the Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have a Dream speech. I began to talk about my dream where black and white youth would play together and sit in Bible study together in perfect harmony. I dreamed of a gym where all kinds of kids from all kinds of backgrounds could find a place of peace from their troubles and discover some people who loved them unconditionally.

This would be a safe place. Every parent could count on that. Every young person would honor that.

I told them this place belonged to God. From now on, it would be called Monday Night Club. Yes. this would be a club where you had to register to be a member and you would be required to sign in to enter.

No one else could visit or join without an invitation from an existing member. No walk-ins. Monday Night Club was open to anyone and everyone, boys and girls, regardless of race or religion. But there would be only one gang. Whoever wanted to come back next week better sign up. We want to know your name, age, and school affiliation, if any.

Everyone would be required to stay for the short Bible talk that can change their lives. No exceptions.

God used one high-pitched voice to remind me only God knows what is inside the heart of any person. My role on God’s team was to love each young person unconditionally.

Our church leadership and members went all in with their hearts and time and prayers.

Teresa became the point guard for our new team. She registered every person who entered Monday Night Club. For thirty years, she knew and remembered each name that went with each face, even to the point of welcoming their future kids into the club. The kids loved her. Through the years, she became the best-known person in the city.

Yes, these were the times that tried our souls. We chose to storm the gates of Hell. This was not for the weak or faint of heart.

The club grew as the neighborhood parents became confident in our sincerity and motives. Gang distinctions were jettisoned. Some of the former gang members were regular participants for many years, until I had to “graduate them with honors” from Monday Night Club.

They cried. I cried.

Our staff would consistently run into familiar faces in new settings from restaurants to school sporting events to places of business to professional athletes. “Do you remember me? I went to Monday Night Club.”

Monday Night Club has new leaders but the same focus. Love First and Love Most…whoever…whenever… Full unconditional acceptance without condemnation…once and for all time.

Jesus lives inside of you to lead you to others He intends to love through you.

That is your life’s mission. The forces of hell are not easily conquered, but we have this assurance: the harder the heart, the more glorious the triumph.

Monday Night Club is a glorious triumph!

The love of Christ gives everyone their value. You are priceless; so is that hard to love person.

You have a challenge. Some people are extremely hard to love. They might be different. They might be defiant. Let them feel your heartbeat.

Do not give up. Never give up! Someday, the trumpet will sound, and God’s gang will gather with one united thunderous shout, “The devil does not run us or this place. Jesus does…From before the beginning of time throughout endless eternity, the Lord God Almighty is King of kings and Lord of lords, now and forever!”