H.W.J.L. (How Would Jesus Love)

Back in February the Fox Chicago News reported a story about the St. Charles Borromeo Convent in Stone Park, Illinois. The sisters of the convent were quite upset over the fact that a strip club was being built right next door to their convent. They had spent much of their time ministering to the neighborhood children and found the addition of a strip club to the area a huge problem in the making.

Over the past couple of months I have heard this story repeated on the radio and each time I was struck more and more by the reaction of the nuns. I wondered if they ever thought about the people who decide to work in a strip club. The lost souls selling a very private part of themselves in order to make a living. The lost souls who come to strip clubs looking to fill the void in their hearts.

The strip club owner says he's soundproofed the building and directed the bright lights away from the convent so the nuns won't be bothered. But the sisters said they will continue to fight the club on moral grounds. "It's against my Christian, religious principles. I cannot support something that's counter to my values," said Sister Marissonia Daltoe. "They could build [the fence] taller than the Berlin Wall... but still, it's there." - Fox Chicago News

Isn't reaching out to the lost a part of why they became nuns? What if they chose to love these people instead of angrily oppose them? What if they had kind words of hope for these desperate people? My guess is that the owner of this club might even start looking to build somewhere else.

Don't get me wrong. I don't want to be too quick in judging the sisters of the convent. I would likely respond in a similar fashion. In fact, it makes me wonder how many times I am judgmental of others who irritate me or how many times I respond in a self-righteous manner to those who are blocking the comfortableness of my life. In those moments I am often missing the opportunity to offer love, a kind word, hope to someone desperately in need of it?

How would Jesus' love look differently toward the new strip club neighbors, the drug addicts, and the bullying boss? How should my love of others look more like his?