A Morning in Court

A few years ago, one of my mentees was walking around Homewood with a couple of his friends and they decided to go exploring inside an old, abandoned, boarded up home.  A recent study in Homewood found that 48% of the properties in my neighborhood are vacant/abandoned, so it's no big surprise that these kids would have been interested in doing a little urban exploring.  The problem is, all kinds of illegal activity happens in and around abandoned properties in urban environments.  On that particular day, a couple of police officers happened to see the boys go into the building.  The police gave the kids a citation for playing in the building, but after talking to them for a while expressed that they would probably just drop the charges.  My mentee actually forgot about the whole thing, until yesterday he was told to appear in court because there was a warrant out for his arrest due to that incident from 2008.  He called me up and said, "Mr. B., I've been doing so good lately.  I can't believe this is happening to me."  He was very upset.  We prayed about the situation, and I kind of coached him up a little bit about how to take a positive approach to the matter.  What could he learn from the experience?  How should he act in front of the judge?  What should he wear to court?  How much did he remember about the incident from a few years ago?

I went to court with him, and we sat in a big room with probably thirty other people who were there for a whole bunch of incidents.  Our case was scheduled toward the end of the list, so we sat there and watched as each of the people there had their day in court before the judge.  It was very sad... heartbreaking really, to see so many different people facing charges for public intoxication, public urination, open containers of alcohol, fighting, domestic disputes, and a very wide variety other crimes.  It would be impossible to sit through all of that and not think about the evil that is in this world, that so many people would be led astray and make so many bad choices in life.  But, God has conquered evil and there is so much life to be found in following Christ.  The gospel message is not just about sin management or avoiding behavior that could land us in front of a judge.  The gospel is about finding joy, meaning, and purpose in life through the adventure that God has for us in finding life in Him.  When we avoid God and try to arrange for life for ourselves, then we get ourselves into all kinds of trouble.

Finally, my mentee had his turn in front of the judge.  The judge asked him what happened, my mentee explained his actions very well, and he apologized for the incident even though it happened a while ago.  The judge looked at me and said, "Who are you?"  I was wearing a suit, and several people at the courthouse had asked me if I was a police officer, a lawyer, or a probation officer.  To the judge I simply replied, "I'm his mentor."  A follow up question came, "How has he been doing since this incident?"  And from there, I was so thankful for the opportunity to advocate for my mentee and say publicly how well he has been doing in school, in the community, and with life in general.  The judge just looked at him and said, "It sounds like you've learned from your past mistakes.  I'm going to dismiss the charges."  And with that news my mentee cracked a huge smile, thanked the judge, and we went on with our day.  It was a huge learning experience for him, and for me.  I was glad that God allowed me to be able to walk through the experience with my mentee.  Mentoring isn't always about fun and games.  It's also about sticking with our mentees during challenging times.  We are friends and advocates.  Even if the outcome in court had not gone well, I know for sure that I would have stuck by my mentee's side to help him navigate through the consequences.

God has a plan for our lives.  When we live in God's Story, we thrive.  When we reject God and follow the many paths and idols that the world has to offer, we enter a path of destruction.  The thing is, God chose not to design robots.  He gave us free will.  We get to choose.  And God is a God of love.  Even when we mess up, he always lovingly welcomes us back into his arms because he is a God of grace, too.  We have an enemy who wants to destroy us, but we have a God who created us and loves us and wants to guide and mentor us through life.  There is no better choice in this life than to choose to follow the Lord.