“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of
the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.’” (Matthew 9:25-27)

As I was preparing to go and share my faith on Toronto Metropolitan University the Thursday before last, I was struck by an article I read in the news. It was an article published that morning by Fox News on Instagram, entitled “‘Chicago Fire’ Chaos.” The subtitle read, “Actors mistaken for real firefighters before shooting near set.”Intrigued, I clicked on the link to read the full article. The following is an excerpt from the story:

A shooting near a “Chicago Fire” production set was just part of the “unbelievable” scene that unfolded Wednesday in front of A.A. Rayner & Sons Funeral Homes. A real fire broke out down the street, causing confusion among residents who thought the actors were real firefighters choosing not to respond to the blaze.

Charles Childs Jr., director of the funeral home where the NBC show was filming, exclusively told Fox News Digital that shortly before a suspect fired shots near the set, the cast had been practicing extinguishing a real fire while a separate incident was reported down the block. Almost as soon as the real fire was reported, authorities responded to the scene shortly after 1:45 p.m. when an “unknown offender, armed with a handgun shot at a group of people standing in the 5900 block of W. Madison Street” near the Oak Park area of the city, according to the Chicago Police Department. Childs Jr. explained the entire scenario was “chaotic” as neighbours were bewildered as to why the dozens of assumed firefighters in his lot weren’t responding to the fire down the street, unbeknownst to them that the people they had been watching put out fires weren’t trained first responders, but were actually actors. 

Though I found the article amusing – and who wouldn’t chuckle at the idea of a bunch of rattled firefighter-actors, standing around in firefighter costumes, waiting for the real firefighters to show up – it occurred to me how desperate and confused the people of that neighbourhood must have been. After all, there was a real fire, a real need, and what looked to be real firefighters. Who wouldn’t be “bewildered?” Then add a random gunshot into the mix, and the word “chaos” begins to make a lot of sense.

As I thought about this, I couldn’t help but to think about the spiritual condition of our city. Though it is not on fire from a physical perspective, there is a pervasive spiritual devastation smouldering throughout its boroughs and neighbourhoods. The word for this blazing inferno is sin. Individuals, as well as whole families, are affected by it, and are lost. They are “like sheep without a shepherd.” And just like those on the 5900 block of W. Madison Street, they are in desperate need of help.

Sadly, many of these same people turn to what they perceive as real firefighters for their salvation. They attend various church services and meetings, they receive instruction from church leaders and ministry staff, and they blindly buy into their religion, not realizing they are surrounded by actors and not true sold-out disciples of Jesus. Like the crowds in Chicago, they are baffled that no one responds to the sexual immorality that exists in their congregations, they are confused that no one says anything about the LGBTQ doctrine that permeates throughout their churches, and they are shocked that instead of life-giving message of repentance, they are given a stale, self-help, and powerless version of the gospel message. Where are the real firefighters?

Jesus saw the same type of devastation when He looked out into the city of Jerusalem. He saw that the people were “harassed and helpless”
and “He had compassion on them.” Jesus understood that the only hope for the people was “to send out workers into His harvest field.” The city needed real spiritual firefighters who would be willing to lay their life on the line for the salvation of others, and not the religious actors that were so prevalent. Sure they wore the outfits, but they had no power to heal the people’s diseases and sicknesses. As it was in Jesus’ generation, so it is in ours. Therefore, this realization begs the question, “Will the real firefighters please stand up?” I am so thankful to be a part of a congregation that believes wholeheartedly in laying down our lives to save others. In fact, it has been remarkable to witness our new Christians going through First Principles Class, where we train them how to lead other non-Christians to Christ through God’s word, so enthusiastically! Our classes have added three extra meetings of the body to their schedules over each two-week period. And yet, not one single disciple has complained about the burden of these added meetings. Instead, they have graciously embraced the training, and aimed to excel in teaching each study!

Also impressive is the massive effort being exerted throughout the Church to meet non-Christians, and to make them into disciples. (Matthew 28:18- 20) In each of the last four weeks, the Church has had almost one-for-one studies, meaning there are just as many non-Christians studying the Bible as there are disciples in the Church! Also in the last four weeks, we have seen five baptized into Christ! With these baptisms, the Church has now had 27 baptisms so far, and is on pace to hit over forty this year. Praise God that we are not just a group of actors in firefighter gear, but actual firefighters, fighting to snatch burning sticks from the fire! (Zechariah 3:2) To God be all the glory!