Letter to the Editor

Why do Christians get the blame?

Saturday, April 7, 2012

To the editor:

It was so hard for me to just sit back and not say anything about the letter that was in the March 27 paper. The lady was commenting about the "good Samaritan" that helped her brother who was stranded on the interstate outside of the city. She puts good Samaritan in quotes several times and thank you in quotes several times because she is being sarcastic and does not mean it, because whoever this person was, took advantage of her brother taking his last $200 for helping him. But the lady could not leave it at that. She had to end her article with the following statement: "Thank God there are such 'good' Christian people out there." She probably got an "amen" out of many non-Christian people that read that letter.

That is the nerve that hit me. Why is it that every so often Christians get the blame for this stuff? Of course, I have to bear in mind that this person obviously is upset, as I would have been, but the person that did this to her brother does not strike me as a Christian anyway. This may be a shocker to some, but not everyone who goes to church is a Christian. She did not say in her letter that the person even claims to be a Christian but she puts all Christians in the same category. We all were the ones that did this to her brother.

My mind goes back 38 years ago during this early spring time period. I came to Blytheville from Sterling, Ill., and through circumstances that happened in my life, ended up living in my car. I only knew a handful of people at that time. Many of you have read my story, as I leave it all over town regularly. But a man that I guess I will have to label as a "good Christian" came to my rescue, first telling me about Jesus Christ and getting my life right with him. Call it desperation, call it grasping at straws, call it anything you want, but he was a God-changed former alcoholic, so there had to be something to what he was telling me. I came to church with him and God filled me with his spirit and forever changed my life. But it was a "good Christian" that came to my rescue. They did not stop there. A family in the church let me stay with them for several months, helping me get on my feet. How many Christians now-a-days would do something like that? Not many, that's for sure. But they did that for me. I settled down here in Blytheville and am doing my very best to give back to God for what he did in my life. I have been the chaplain of the Mississippi County Work Release Prison at Luxora for right at 20 years. I'm trying to impress upon those men that something good really does happen when you start living for the Lord and get Jesus Christ residing in your heart.

This lady will probably never read this letter, and that's OK. I kind of wanted to offset the negative slap on Christians and our city residents. Lady, not everyone is like that in Christianity or in our city and my apologies go out to you for what happened, but I know so many Christian and non-Christian people alike that would have done all they could for that man and not charge him a dime.

I also want to end my letter, as the lady did, by thanking God that there are still some wonderful, God-fearing Christians in our world today. My life has been forever changed, and now it is my duty to do my best to help folks see not just this "good Christian," but what can really happen to a person when Jesus Christ takes up residence in their lives. You can help a person on the outside and that could be the end of the story, but helping someone change on the inside with Jesus Christ is a gift that keeps on giving. Where would I have been if someone had not talked to me about Jesus? Call it a cliche if you want, but he made a difference in my life and because of that I cannot help but tell others what Jesus did for me.

Matt O'Neil, chaplain
Mississippi County Work Release Center