Community of Servers in White County

The rains came down, the temperature dropped, the winds blew and the trees and power lines froze, and they feel with a great crash.  For days, thousands were without the use of power to keep warm, cook food, take hot showers and go to work.  The scene on Bon Air Mountain was as if a bomb had exploded.  Power lines were lying all over the place.  Poles were broken into as if they were toothpicks.  Trees were snapped in two and debris was scattered everywhere.  

In the two years I have lived in White County Tennessee, I have learned many things about the people and the way of life, but the one thing I have learned that has been the most inspiring is how the vast majority will help others in times of need and disasters.  I love what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 13:10, “Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others.”  (MSG)

My first trip to Bon Air Mountain was on the Sunday after the winter storm.  As our church made our way into the BonDeCroft Elementary School, I saw working people preparing a place to help their neighbors and friends and family.  I saw teachers like Sara Cope working tirelessly organizing, helping others and reassuring those without power that they were not alone.  She worked day in and day out with a determination to serve.  Sara’s love for her neighbors, her school and her students was the driving force of service, even though her own home was without power. 

Another inspiring story was the BonDeCroft Baptist Church.  Their commitment to serving was over the top.  Day in and day out the members poured their heart and soul out in preparing meals, delivering meals to those who could not get out, serving the linemen who were working to restore power and giving out supplies the community needed to survive the days ahead without power. 

Thousands of people from all over donated supplies, money, food and time.  The efforts to help their neighbors were encouraging.  It was truly a community coming together for those who were in need of help. 

Jesus tells a story about a man who was robbed and left to die.  There were three people who saw the man.  Two of the men were “religious” and one was a “Samaritan.”  Jesus says that the two “religious” guys saw the man but did nothing but cross the street and pay no attention to the needs of the dying man.  However, the “Samaritan” saw the man and began to take care of his needs because he was filled with compassion.  Jesus asked the question, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell in the hands of the robber?”  The expert of the law said, “The one who showed mercy on him.”  Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”  

Our neighbors are all over the world.  We do not discriminate based on color of skin, religious affiliations, ethnicity, or gender.  Rather, we live out what Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40,  “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” (MSG)

As the Central Church of Christ and the BonDeCroft Baptist Church served food to the needs of our community, it proves that our resolve is not to be divided, rather, to serve and to live out the Jesus life daily.  As I saw the leadership of Dr. Larry Thompson, the Principal as BonDeCroft Elementary School, it proves that he is more than an administrator; he is a neighbor.  As I witnessed Doug Benningfield, the minister at Hickory Valley Baptist Church, deliver loads and loads of supplies, it demonstrated his allegiance to being a neighbor.  The same is true for McDonalds, KFC, the Fire Department, Wal-Mart, various churches, individuals and a host of people who do not live in White County. 

May God bless White County Tennessee!

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian