Vegas Drive Church of Christ
“So where do you go next?” the shuttle driver asked as we bumped along between stops to see the mind-blowing views along Bryce Canyon including Rainbow Point, Yovimpa, Natural Bridge, Bryce Point, Inspiration Point, Sunrise Point, and Sunset Point. The bus was full and a lot of people had been eavesdropping on our conversation. I didn’t quite know how to answer the question without giving the wrong impression. “Las Vegas…”, I confessed, “... to worship…ironically '' I clarified. “Well, that’s good”, the shuttle driver replied and the crowd chuckled.
It had been back in the early 2000s when Mark had been invited to speak for the Vegas Drive church of Christ in the Las Vegas Valley. They were meeting in a small, old building and appeared to be barely hanging on. How encouraging it was, then, to pull up recently to their fresh, new building and walk into worship with a full house of such a beautiful blend of ages and ethnic backgrounds. The Sunday we visited, they were concluding a series of lessons taught by Joe Price, a preacher that they had invited in to speak to them and one who, for years, happened to be one of the straightest shooters in all the Pacific Northwest, biblically speaking.
Purity is a rare commodity in Las Vegas, but the church there wanted Joe Price to come speak for them on that very topic. During his talk, Joe emphasized God’s plan for His church to be pure in three areas: doctrine, in our personal lives, and in the way we love one another (James 4:7-8). And just how does the church maintain its purity and holiness (Ephesians 5:27; Titus 2:14)? By each Christian individually taking on the obligation to morally cleanse himself (1 Peter 1:15-16; 2 Corinthians 7:1) because it is the pure church that will, in the end, be presented to Christ and delivered up to God (2 Corinthians 11:2; 1 Corinthians 15:24). On a practical level, the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-27) is to allow the truth to purify her (Psalm 19:8; Ephesians 5:26; John 15:1-3; 17:17) from the corruption of false teachings (2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Peter 3:15-16; Jude 3; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 John 9).
Joe reminded us that, as individuals, each member must realize that purity begins in the heart (Matthew 5:8; 2 Timothy 2:22) and in our thoughts (Philippians 4:8) and is expressed in our speech (James 1:26) and through our conduct (2 Corinthians 7:1). By pursuing purity in these areas, we can remain unsoiled by such things as indifference (Hebrews 6:11-12), worldliness (1 John 2:15) and the evil influence of immoral friends (1 Corinthians 15:33). Needless to say, this standard of purity is quite challenging for all of us, including those living nearest to “Sin City”. So what could possibly fuel one’s soul to endure those challenges successfully all the way to the end of life? There’s really only one element with that octane level, and that is this: a deep love of God (Matthew 22:37;1 John 5:3) and a fervent love (1 Peter 4:8) for each other (John 13:34-35) that is unselfish (Ephesians 5:2), free from hypocrisy (Romans 12:9-10) and is a love that is expressed in a willingness to sacrifice for one another (1 John 3:17-18) as needed.
According to ktnv.com, in 2019, Las Vegas’s 150,000 hotel rooms housed almost 50 million (mostly) partiers who flocked there from all over the world to spend about 58 billion dollars. The forms of instant gratification that they engage in are too dark for God’s children to even think or speak of, and as the saying goes, many of the carousers are hoping “what just happened in Vegas will stay in Vegas”. Of course, that’s never the case. God sees all, and even if they win a jackpot, many take home nothing that is real, lasting, or satisfying, and some even take home “souvenirs” they hadn’t planned. For example, Clark County ranked first in the nation in 2017 for syphilis rates per capita — the sexually transmitted disease that can cause irreversible brain damage. This disease, at present, is transmitted in Las Vegas at over 2.5 times the national average — and that’s just one of what seems like an almost endless list of consequences when one plays fast and loose with what God considers holy (Hebrews 13:4), including sexual intimacy.
During the course of our worship, Isaiah 53 was read, and I couldn’t help but feel a renewed awe of the cleansing power of the sacrifice of Christ; for as God’s repentant children (including the chiefest of sinners [1 Timothy 1:15] among us) — every one of us were desperate for what the sacrifice of Christ was able to accomplish. The heading for this section of scripture is entitled The Lord is in His Holy Temple. Next time you read Isaiah 53, listen to it through the ears of those who have sought spiritual refuge within congregations like this one that is so encircled with spiritual darkness. I found it to be exceptionally moving.
Joe shared with this flock of God (Isaiah 53:6), the Good Shepherd’s preventative answers to all moral darkness, including, His divine plan for strong vibrant families in lifelong marriages (1 Corinthians 7:1-3; Proverbs 5:15-20; Genesis 2:25) composed of older men who are vigilant about raising children modeling for them how to be men of honor, faith, love, and patience (Eph. 4:16) and serving their families by leading them (Ephesians 5:23), and older women who carry themselves with dignified reverence and self-control, who refrain from slander and teach the next generation of women to follow and help their sacrificial husbands (Titus 2:5; 1 Timothy 5:14). The lesson was well-received, and we truly found this outstanding congregation a breath of fresh air, and have much optimism about their future.
The highway we had traveled to and from our RV park to the church building paralleled the Vegas Strip, and as we passed some of the most beautiful man-made structures I’ve ever seen, I couldn’t help but think silently to myself about the games of chance that had funded all of it, and all the risks people have taken in Las Vegas. Of course, we’ve all taken risks in life — because no one can go through life without a leap of faith every now and then. The Apostle Peter took a risk when, upon Jesus’s invitation, he got out of the boat and walked with the Son of God on water (Matthew 14:22-33). In like manner, those who love God have “counted the cost” (Luke 14:28-32) and have consciously taken calculated risks every day to gain for Him more glory. Sometimes the risk is unpopularity when the occasion demands, and in other times there’s even more at stake. It’s during those times when doing the right thing seems that it will cost us everything, that will reveal who we really are and just how much we actually believe what we say we believe.
John Piper writes about how risk reflects God’s value, not our valor, and the amazing things that can happen when we have “...faith in the all-providing, all-ruling, all-satisfying Son of God, Jesus Christ. The strength to risk losing face for the sake of Christ is the faith that God’s love will lift up your face in the end and vindicate your cause…” He goes on to note “...how much is wasted when we do not take risks for the cause of Christ …On the far side of every risk—even if it results in death—the love of God triumphs. This is the faith that frees us to risk for the cause of God. It is not heroism, or lust for adventure, or courageous self-reliance, or efforts to earn God's favor. It is childlike faith in the triumph of God's love—that on the other side of all our risks, for the sake of righteousness, God will still be holding us. We will be eternally satisfied in Him. Nothing will have been wasted…Every loss we risk in order to make much of Christ, God promises to restore a thousandfold with his all-satisfying fellowship.”
God certainly has a lot to say on the topic of risk, including the fact that He has given His children a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7), and that there is no “fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:17-20). I believe these connections God makes in scripture about the courage it takes to risk loving others and being loved in the ways Joe described in his talk, is exactly what motivated C.S. Lewis to make the following observation: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless-it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable; the alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”
Wise people seek to optimize the risks they take because they know the right risks are intended by God to be part of our development. The same can be said about the risks we allow our children to take. I more often see children who are under-protected, but the opposite extreme is also to be avoided. Jordan Peterson warns parents to avoid overprotecting their children lest when something dangerous, unexpected, and full of opportunity suddenly makes its appearance, as it inevitably will, they don’t have the confidence or experience to take on the challenge, but instead “lumber around, sloth-like, unconscious, unformed and careless.”
So how does a parent navigate providing their children with risks that will build their confidence and capacities to reach their full potential, without exposing them to situations that could destroy them spiritually? Such parental judgments are, of course, on a case-by-case basis, but generally speaking, I believe God expects us to not shelter our children from such things as…
Knowing how much you treasure them
The acknowledgment of your own imperfections and mistakes
Challenges
Hard work
Decision Making
Sacrifice
Necessary Confrontations/Standing Alone
Consequences (usually)
Noticing the consequences of sin in other’s lives
False teachings (Show them how to compare what man says to what God says in scripture)
People from other ethnicities or cultures
People from other income levels
People who are grieving
People who are dying
Your children are going to need to learn to be bold. I share the following story to help you help them know what boldness might look like for them so that this kind of situation does not take them by surprise. The situation unfolded one night when I was a senior Domestic Violence Resource Advocate at a local police department and was asked to pop into the training sessions to support the new recruits. On this particular night, we listened to various presentations about how best to serve various minorities, after which my boss began to hang the letters A B, and C on three different walls. She then started administering a surprise Values Clarification Exercise explaining, "I will read a statement with 3 choices, noted as A, B or C. Walk to the wall as indicated that best fits your response. There will be no standing in the middle of the room," she instructed. Nestled in the middle of the questions was the one I saw coming: “I would be most upset if my child married someone… A. Out of financial necessity, B. of the same sex, or C. of a different race. Go!”
Your children are going to need to learn to be bold. I share the following story to help you help them know what boldness might look like for them so that this kind of situation does not take them by surprise. The situation unfolded one night when I was a senior Domestic Violence Resource Advocate at a local police department and was asked to pop into the training sessions to support the new recruits. On this particular night, we listened to various presentations about how best to serve various minorities, after which my boss began to hang the letters A B, and C on three different walls. She then started administering a surprise Values Clarification Exercise explaining, "I will read a statement with 3 choices, noted as A, B or C. Walk to the wall as indicated that best fits your response. There will be no standing in the middle of the room," she instructed. Nestled in the middle of the questions was the one I saw coming: “I would be most upset if my child married someone… A. Out of financial necessity, B. of the same sex, or C. of a different race. Go!”
I shot a prayer arrow heavenward for God to give me the courage to stand alone at B. I knew my standing alone would not necessarily be because I would be the only person in the room who would wholeheartedly say "B", but because this police department, like many government agencies today, was spending a lot of time and money trying to convince their employees and volunteers to… not say B. The rule for overcoming fear is to head right into it. I felt a lot as you would feel, and realized what a unique spiritual opportunity it was to literally "stand alone" with every single other person in the room standing across from me under the letter "A". So there I stood, feet apart, hands behind my back, chin up, smiling and making all the eye contact I could. At the end of the exercise, I was given the opportunity to explain my answer for choosing to stand alone at B, when it was decided that we’d go around the room and introduce who we are and what we do. As each, in turn, stated their accomplishments and such, when my turn came at almost the very end, I decided to use it to break down the stereotype people falsely cling to that Christians are haters. “My name is Cindy Dunagan and my husband
preaches for the church of Christ, so I’m a preacher’s wife…The reason why I do this volunteer work for the police department is because I believe I was put on this earth by a Creator who expects me to use my life to fill the world with as much love, kindness and joy as I can, and to help others do the same. I also believe that He is the one that has stated what is good and evil so I don’t get to choose what is right and what is wrong. It’s His planet so He gets to decide. So that’s why I stood all by myself by B. My standing alone at B shows that as a Christian, I am actually a minority. As a member of this minority, allow me to give you some information that will help you help people in my minority group.” I went on for a while giving clarifications about why we do what we do, and in the end, I not only felt stronger but also developed a warm friendship with one of the new recruits who trotted my direction in the parking lot later to thank me and confess that she, too, wanted to stand by B and had stood her ground at great risk at the public school where she worked. We both knew there were likely others as well. In fact, my boss, who had organized the exercise, over time emailed me to say, “Thank you for all that you are and all that you do”, and came to my home for lunch and a good, long talk. If you practice these very real scenarios at home, your children will be more prepared to stand firm when these surprise “pop quizzes” surface in their conversations.
So what, on the other hand, are children best sheltered from? I believe God expects us under every circumstance to shelter and protect the children we are raising from such things as:
Sin in media: websites, movies, books, music, magazines, and television shows.
Evil companions
Manipulative/seductive people (teachers with questionable agendas, flirtatious coaches…)
Trying to gain attention or popularity by not accepting their divinely assigned gender.
Self-centeredness
Wearing sexually provocative clothing
Laziness
Having everything they want/materialism
Wasting too much of their time/misplaced priorities
Gossip
I’m a risk taker by nature in many areas of life. I guess that’s pretty obvious as a woman who married a man at only 17 after only knowing him for four months. On the other hand, after we married, we felt it too risky to continue motorcycling during the years we were raising children, then got back on once we were empty nesters, until someone ran out into a car ahead of us and we crashed. Even living nomadically, just four months after the pandemic broke out, was quite risky. I’m willing to take some risks, but you’ll never see me sitting at one of those “one-armed bandits” because, for starters, there's a good reason why gambling is called “stupidity tax”. And as much as I love artistic architecture, I knew I’d not be able to stomach even a walk down the Vegas Strip where huge signage invites even 18-year-old boys to see things that so deeply grieve my soul.
We must count the cost of all we do and seek out the advice of the wise around us. That being said, of course, not everything can be foreseen. Sometimes we are flying blind. In fact, sometimes you do the math and it all adds up to “go for it”, then unforeseen circumstances can cause the chance you took to explode into a million pieces and all you can do is stand and watch, sometimes for years, the ashes descend on your head like confetti from the Hadean realm. I’ve had that happen more than once, but I’m hoping today’s not one of those days, because, after all this writing about risk, I actually have a helicopter waiting to take me on a flyover of Zion National Park today. Ironic timing is a funny thing.
Vegas Drive church of Christ3824 Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89108
702-636-4986
vegasdrivechurchofchrist.com