More Church Crime

I mentioned on here a couple of weeks ago about attending a Lutheran church with my friends, and their van being broken into while at the church that day. Sadly, it appears that the crime at the church hasn't stopped with that. In the two weeks since, an individual has gone into the men's bathroom on a couple of occasions and scribbled profanity all over the walls of the stall, some of which was political in nature. Then, this morning someone snuck into the church and stole some items. That person was followed and subsequently arrested. The person who committed the vandalism is still on the loose.

I can't figure out why this church would be the target of so much crime. It isn't a church that takes a public political stand. In fact, traditional Lutherans are known to make a very strong distinction between church and state. I've attended this particular congregation on and off for many years. In fact, I consider it sort of a second church home. The pastors there have always made very explicit, especially in their sermons, that they believe the church is completely separate from the civil government. I know the head pastor personally, and consider him a good friend. But he is so good at keeping his political views to himself that I couldn't tell you who he voted for. I couldn't tell you what political party he's registered with, or where he stands on any issue. There are members of the congregation from various political parties, and one could find both Obama supporters and McCain supporters there.

So, while I don't know the nature of the political graffiti in the bathroom, the fact that there was any is bizarre to me. And whatever the reason for all of this, this church needs our prayers. In fact, all of Greensboro needs prayer. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, these things are just reminders of the sad spiritual condition of our city.